The Net
Directed by Irwin Winkler
- crime
- drama
- mystery
- thriller
- action
The story
Angela Bennett is a freelance computer systems analyst who tracks down software viruses. At night, she hooks up to the internet and chats to others 'surfing the net'. While de-bugging a new high-tech game for a cyber friend, she comes across a top secret program and becomes the target of a mysterious organization, who will stop at nothing to erase her identity and her existence in order to protect the project.
What it’s like
Cool blue monitor glow in dim bedrooms and cramped apartments, then sun-bleached Californian daylight and the washed-out ochre of a Mexican resort, so the film's look shifts from insular night-time solitude to bright, exposed open air. The camera stays fairly conventional and steady, with close, watchful framing on Sandra Bullock's face as her character grows more anxious, and the 1990s computer interfaces, floppy-era hardware and chunky screens give the whole thing a retro, analogue-tech texture. The score is propulsive synth-and-orchestra thriller music that pulses under chase beats and quietens during quieter, paranoid stretches. Its vibe is brisk, glossy paranoia: a lonely, socially isolated woman whose ordinary life is quietly erased, moving from fearful to resourceful. The pacing is steady and genre-driven, with a clear escalation, suiting a weekend afternoon or a lively night in rather than contemplative viewing. Intensity is moderate: some scuffles, a few shootings and a tense, threatening atmosphere, but no gore and little explicit cruelty, with fear coming more from suspense than from graphic harm. It suits viewers who want a nostalgic, old-school techno-thriller with a sympathetic underdog and no graphic brutality.
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