I.T.

US, 2016, 95 minutes, Colour.
Pierce Brosnan, James Frecheville, Anna Friel, Stefanie Scott, Michael Nyqvist.
Directed by John Moore.

Hell hath no fury… But this time it is not a woman scorned but rather an IT employee scorned and fired. And he has a vast IT palette on which to wreak his fury.

This a contemporary thriller, especially in the IT world. Pierce Brosnan portrays a multimillionaire who has developed his company, built it up, has become wealthy, is married to a glamorous wife, Anna Friel, and is devoted to his teenage daughter, Stefanie Scott. This means that the film starts with a: who could ask for anything more?

At a company demonstration, there is a glitch in the IT presentation. Technicians work hard behind the scene but the situation is saved when a young man, Ed Porter (James Frecheville) is able to fix everything and the presentation proceeds. Brosnan is particularly impressed, praises the young man, even offers him the prospect of a job.

But, we soon discover the young man has problems. While he is an expert, he is not the personality that he wants people to think he is. He is a loner, has built up a reputation which is based on half truths and imagination and ambition. He begins to intrude more and more into the life of the millionaire and his daughter.

Brosnan’s millionaire was grateful but resents intrusion into his family life and so is very short with the young man, warning him off in no uncertain terms.

So, revenge, stalking, hacking into the technology of the company, extreme surveillance, readjusting data leading to financial disaster.

Swedish actor Michael Niquvist, known from The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, portrays a quiet expert recommended to remedy the situation – which, in a calm and controlled way, sitting at a cafe, using the stolen phone of Brosnan’s daughter, watching everything on a screen while Brosnan invades the high-tech apartment and gear, is achieved.

Actually, the film becomes more melodramatic at this stage, the young man able to pretend to play the victim, ensure that the police are suspicious of the millionaire rather than himself. And there is more melodrama as the young man threatens the wife and daughter, leading to the inevitable…


1. A contemporary thriller? The world of business? Technology? The focus of the title?

2. A business thriller, industrial sabotage? The vengeance of a stalker?

3. The California settings, the world of IT, business, programs, demonstrations, glitches, the need for experts? Board meetings and plans? Threats? The musical score?

4. The world of Michael Regan, his company, offices, affluence? Building himself up? His associates? The mansion? His wife and daughter and their worlds? School? The ordinary job at cafes? The world of employees and their lifestyle?

5. The plausibility of the plot, the world of business, menace, action?

6. Mike Regan in himself, age and character, marriage, family? Self-image, self-satisfaction? Wealth, origins, success, life of luxury? The characters of his wife and daughter?

7. The demonstration, the failure, Ed and his being able to fix the situation? His expertise? Regan grateful, offering support, the job offer? Ed and his reaction? His expectations?

8. Ed, his character, presence in the company, intruding into the family life, Regan’s reaction? The daughter and her attraction? The wife and her hostility? His being a loner, at home, the vast equipment, his talent with IT? His ability to spy with all his surveillance? The background of his life, Mike investigating him, the loner, various jobs, his self-promotion?

9. His fury, hurt, the decision to hack, the devastating results for the company? The effect on the staff, the threats?

10. Mike Regan, his consulting the IT expert, their meeting, the plan? The expert and his knowledge, techniques? His timing, surveillance, Mike going into Ed’s building, dismantling the surveillance? Ed realising what was happening, the return? The threats? His going to the house, tying up Mike’s wife and daughter? The expert and his completing his work, his being paid, using the daughter’s cafe and phone?

11. Ed, the increasing violence, the confrontation with Mike, the threats, the police, Mike and his arrest, treatment, and playing himself as the victim?

12. Revenge, the buildup, going too far, Mike and the confrontation? The resolution?