Director: John Moore
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, James Frecheville, Anna Friel, Stefanie Scott, Michael Nyqvist
Running Time: 95 minutes
Synopsis: Private jet aviation tycoon Mike Regan (Pierce Brosnan) is seeking approval to take his company public. He lives in a modern technology-enabled home with his wife Rose (Anna Friel) and 17-year old daughter Kaitlyn (Stefanie Scott). Independent IT support technician Ed Porter (James Frecheville) proves capable at work, and Mike asks him to troubleshoot his home's smart system. But Ed is unhinged, becomes obsessed with Kaitlyn, and his creepy behaviour gets him fired. He unleashes vengeance by taking control of all the technology in Mike's home, car, and business.
What Works Well: The setting of Mike Regan's home is snazzy, allowing Pierce Brosnan to ooze success through his usual suave persona. James Frecheville is suitably creepy as the deeply troubled tech wizard antagonist, and Michael Nyqvist adds a dose of gravitas as a shadowy fixer. The dangers of trusting seemingly competent strangers bubble to the surface in the more competent first half.
What Does Not Work As Well: Many secondary characters just check-out and disappear, key plot points (like the initial public offering, Regan's financial difficulties, and Ed's potent threat to ruin Mike's business) take convenient breaks when it suits the script, and the most logical choices (like the Regans checking into a hotel and calmly uninstalling the smart home system) are discarded for lousy decision-making. Overall, director John Moore traps the second half action in the no-man's land between techno-thrills and primitive bare-knuckles-and-guns chicanery.
Key Quote:
Ed: You know the smart panels in your home have built-in cameras?
Mike: I had them disabled. I like my privacy.
Ed: Good luck with that.
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