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Cypher Details

2002 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 5614 members

From the director of 1997 sci-fi thriller CUBE, comes this equally forward looking tale of double-agents and futuristic spy rings. Jeremy Northam plays Morgan Sullivan, a bored, put-upon suburban accountant who dreams of a more exciting career. He becomes a company spy for huge firm Digicorp, he must secretly record sensitive .. Read more

Starring Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler
Director Vincenzo Natali
Genres Action/Adventure, Thriller

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Cypher

From the director of 1997 sci-fi thriller CUBE, comes this equally forward looking tale of double-agents and futuristic spy rings. Jeremy Northam plays Morgan Sullivan, a bored, put-upon suburban accountant who dreams of a more exciting career. He becomes a company spy for huge firm Digicorp, he must secretly record sensitive information at trade conventions, under an assumed identity. He meets the enigmatic Rita (Lucy Liu) who works for a rival company, and she convinces him he's been brainwashed by Digicorp and offers him the chance to be anti-brainwashed and work for Sunways, putting him in the difficult position of double-agent. Increasingly psychologically disturbed with divided loyalties, cracks begin to appear in Sullivan's fragile mind, and the real and the imaginary become dangerously blurred. His only saviour comes in Rita's boss, Rooks, but first he must perform one final deadly assignment.

Starring Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp
Director Vincenzo Natali
Studio PATHE DISTRIBUTION
Run time DVD: 1 hr 32 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Action/Adventure, Thriller
Language DVD: English
Hearing-impaired English
Released DVD: not available
Production year: 2002
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (3) of Cypher

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    This confident combination of Philip K Dick paranoia, B-movie film noir and James Bond espionage features creative special effects and an amazingly sleek look, all elegantly presented with tricksy élan and stylish bravura. When accountant Jeremy Northam exchanges his dull grind for an excitement-filled existence as an industrial spy, he uncovers a sinister brainwashing operation where even his own life is not what it seems. By playing with the boundaries between reason and madness, dreams and reality, and flashbacks and flash-forwards with some aplomb, director Vincenzo Natali (Cube) manages to ultimately boil down the extreme lengths an individual will go for true love while coming to terms with their inner self. It's an ambitious conceit and this talented director takes it to further levels of provocative intrigue with visual flourishes such as colour gradually seeping back into the black-and-white photography as Northam learns more about his true identity.

    • Radio Times
  • Security is tight in the personnel department at software giant DigiCorp as Morgan Sullivan (Northam) arrives for... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of Cypher

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  • 26 out of 35 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Very, very clever film

    I was initially a bit trepidatious about viewing this, having read the negtive reviews it attracted at the cinema, but it was stylish, and incredibly clever - I really bought into the concept which is truly sinister, and it ends with a wonderful twist - definitely worth a watch.

      • A customer from London
  • Most recent members' review of Cypher

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  • 11 out of 20 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    Not As Clever As It Thinks It Is

    Its hard to review 'Cypher' without giving away too much of the plot, and since watching the plot unfold in front of you is so integral to the viewing experience, its better that I don't try.

    The premise is far from simple. All we know going in is that Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) is going to work for a company called Digicorp, and will become a software stealing agent/spy of some kind for them.

    From hereonin, we find out many different things, and clues pile up in front of us. The ending is kind of a let down, as it all just seems a little contrived, and while the film strives to be as smart as possible without compromising its noir/sci-fi roots, it just falls a little short.

    Its just nothing new, put it that way.

      • David Levy from Totteridge, England
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    • From the director of 1997 sci-fi thriller CUBE, comes this equally forward looking tale of double-agents and futuristic spy rings. Jeremy Northam plays Morgan Sullivan, a bored, put-upon suburban ...