Anon

As I have mentioned on this blog before, Andrew Niccol is a fascinating director. He has made a couple of excellent thought-provoking anti-weapons films (Lord of War, Good Kill) and a great thought-provoking sci-fi film (Gattaca). But his other efforts, while also thought-provoking (and his heart is clearly in the right place), have been seriously flawed sci-fi flicks (SimOne, In Time, The Host). Niccol’s latest film, Anon, a Netflix Original sci-fi noir (a favourite genre) that was just released last Friday, unfortunately joins those lesser ranks.

Anon, written and directed by Niccol, stars Clive Owen as Sal Frieland, a New York City homicide detective in the not-so-distant future. In this future, everything people see is permanently recorded by something in their minds (nanobots?), effectively reducing crime to a fraction of what we have today, and making it very difficult to get away with murder. Nevertheless, someone has tried it multiple times and managed to mask their identity in the process, even making the victims look out of their killer’s eyes. Meanwhile, Sal’s ability to identify everyone he sees (including a full bio) has come across a glitch, a young woman  (Amanda Seyfried) whose identity comes up in his mind as ‘unknown - error’. Sal suspects this mysterious Anon has something to do with the murders. But tracking her down is going to be a dangerous game indeed, because she can apparently manipulate everything he sees. 

The plot is rather weak and full of holes (not entirely unexpected), but its vision of the future is, as expected, thought-provoking and not unrealistic. Owen, Seyfried and Colm Feore (as Sal’s boss) make the best of a thin, though intelligent, screenplay, and they are fun to watch. The worst thing about Anon is the graphic violence. Was it really necessary? In my opinion, the answer is no, at least not as often as it was shown. There were some unnecessary sex scenes as well.

But what makes Anon worth watching despite its flaws is the breathtaking and stylish cinematography. It’s almost devoid of any colour, but that just accentuates the noir feel. Magnificent stuff! There are some great shots of NYC and I loved all the white lines of data that people can look at. 

So I am giving Anon a solid *** in spite of its flaws. It’s a fun ride, even if it doesn’t satisfy. My mug is up.