Tom starts to piece things together and identifies the burglars as classmates Eugene (Charley Palmer Rothwell), Ant (Armin Karima), Cass (Shaquille Al-Yebuah), and Cutz (Aymen Hamdouchi). As iBoy, he initiates a campaign to undermine and humiliate these young men and other drug dealers in his apartment complex by hacking into their phones, destroying their cars and appliances, and making off with a large stash of coke. His war against the criminals continues with an anonymous broadcast to the police who “find” the packets of drugs that Tom has planted in the drug runners’ flats leading to several arrests. Drug lord Ellman (Rory Kinnear) sends his remaining gang out to terrorize the apartment dwellers and steal every one’s cell phones and computers. Ellman becomes aware of Tom’s extraordinary and exponentially expanding mental powers and compels him to hack into private bank accounts and transfer the money to his account. If Tom does not comply, his family and friends will be harmed. Ellman describes the essence of their encounter: “You don’t call the devil and then get upset when he turns up.”
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This 21st century “black hats versus white hats” film relies on the usual stereotypes to gain the sympathies of its viewers and ultimately leads them to the “riding into the sunset” ending that we all want. After all, this is as a much the love story of two disarming adolescents as it is a sci-fi fantasy thriller. The use of CGI effects is judicious and stays out of the way from the personal issues that drive this often-touching little film. With the exception of Miranda Richardson, a stalwart of contemporary British cinema, the remaining cast was new to me but all did a splendid job of portraying their characters in a more straightforward manner than is typical of contemporary UK cinema. Deft camera work by Eben Bolter’s crew and a rough-and-tumble score by Max Aruj and Steffen Thum support the heartwarming chemistry between Milner and Williams that percolates as the film progresses. Netflix Original has an unusually keen eye for overseas productions and this one is assuredly one of the new picks of the litter.
iBoy is currently streaming on Netflix.
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