Review of Anon (2018) by Troy C — 11 May 2018

Slowly but surely carving out their own niche in the world of movies, this Netflix premiere is another mid-budget sci-fi with, for better and mostly for worse, an auteur at the helm given full artistic control.

Kiwi writer-director Andrew Niccol is no newcomer to the sci-fi genre, his first foray coming way back in 1997 with Gattaca and subsequently including AI thriller S1m0ne and Justin Timberlake on-the-run flick In Time.

There's no doubting Niccol's brilliance in creating juicy high-concept ideas; here we have a world with no anonymity thanks to human eyes acting as both live-stream cameras and instant digital databases.

But the criticisms levelled at him throughout his directorial career remain, in particular the cold and detached tone he cultivates and his workmanlike approach to action. One can't help but wonder if more studio production control might've steered this into more energetic territory.

There are interesting moments littered throughout, especially once the police force, accustomed to solving crime exceptionally quick and easily, come up against a hacker who alters what they see (and therefore believe), yet the thin character development makes it hard to really care.

Clive Owen sleepwalks his way through as a dishevelled investigator with the same backstory as all dishevelled investigators-dead family member, his fault, looks for solace in the bottom of a glass-whilst Amanda Seyfried fails to convince as a hacker femme fatale.

The action sequences are serviceable without being exhilarating; the notion of being unable to trust what you see generates some tension, but the stiff choreography and by-the-numbers progression of action hampers its potential to truly thrill.

Not bad for a rainy Saturday afternoon, but a lack of heart and exuberance stop Anon from connecting either as an engrossing sci-fi yarn or an exciting action flick.