KILLER APP
US, 2017, 83 minutes, Colour.
Ashley Rickards, Skyler Maxon, Jonny Rees, Brooke Langton, Will Lancaster, Manny Pérez, Niki Koss, Jennifer Missoni.
Directed by Tomasso Cardile.
This is a film for and made by young adults enthralled by the lure of IT, its potential, the intrigue, and the possibilities of making a great deal of money. Older audiences might find it too much. The images on the cinema screen reflect and portray so many of the complex IT screens and images.
The film opens with a commercial for a company called Titan with the founder, Jonny Rees, urging his associate who has created not only an app but a robotic app to demonstrate what she has done. The experiment fails. The doomed associate writes down a code and then throws herself from the building. Titan seems to be able to go on…
Then a group of young and ambitious men and women arrive, welcomed by an associate who also voices the robot who is able to guide them from one place to another. They have accommodation in the Titan building – although there is a floor to which they have no access. They are assembled for a briefing with the founder and each has to put forward some kind of pitch, what they are working on, what they are developing, what are their hopes.
The central character is Jessie who may or may not be the illegitimate daughter of the founder – she is. She is cautioned by her mother as she goes to work for Titan, is persuaded to sign a confidentiality contract. However, she is rather surly as well is assertive, especially towards Matteo with whom she had a past relationship. There is also Stacey who is obviously meant to be the seductive character and another eccentric who has an app near his eyes which is able to tell him in detail his state of health. There is also a nice contender, Ian.
There is a certain rivalry amongst the group. However, the founder does take an interest in his daughter although she is prepared to defy him. Then Matteo gives a presentation having taken the main themes of her app, which will enable the computer to make connections between enemies.
And so, this is a promise for various characters to be knocked off, the first being Matteo. Stacey has been in an automated car with him but has escaped. She tries seduction with the founder – but is also confronted and knocked off. The man with the health app also goes into a frenzy.
Jessie’s mother also turns up, careful for her daughter, it also attacked but not dying, instead going to hospital.
And so, the scene is set, a lot of whizbang computer effects to enhance the action, and Matteo is revealed to be the villain.
And the possibilities of reconciliations all round and IT progress.
The intended audience may be too busy with their own projects and sitting at their own screens to have time to watch this melodramatic mirror of their activities!
(And the original title was antisocial.app!!)
