Hacker, A Danish film
Hacker is a Danish movie released in March of 2019. Read further to learn the plot of the movie and what different flavors does it pack than a Hollywood movie! The analysis is based on my own observation and evaluation of the movie, however constructive criticism about the writing and the article is most welcome. And yes, this article does have spoilers!!
Hacker is a movie in the Danish language, produced in Denmark. It is an action-family film. It's based on a classic premise, where the main characters fight off an evil organization that is trying to overthrow the government. The movie’s main character is a thirteen-year-old kid, Benjamin who believes he is an orphan but her mother is still alive. Most of the movie is about his life and his adventure along with an orphan girl trying to find her mother while the evil organization and the government, both are hot on his tail. The better action is seen in the second half of the movie when he meets her mother. Benjamin meeting her mother triggers off a chain of events that leads to the climax of the movie. The climax starts off and ends soon and all is well at the end.
Summary and the plot
The base of the script of this movie is big; it is about a private group called, “The Patriots” which are not happy with the government functioning as such and want to overthrow the system and take over. The Patriots are everywhere, they are among the government, businessmen, police, etc. “MM” is the leader of the Patriots and wants to have control of a quantum computer called Zeus which can change people’s thinking and their liking about anything. The Patriots want to stage a coup by influencing the voting of a bill that is being passed in a parliament.
Now the problem is that the quantum computer, Zeus requires an algorithm that they don’t have. The woman who originally developed Zeus developed it as a rehabilitation program. So, when the government wanted to weaponize Zeus, she refuses and goes underground leaving behind her son, Benjamin to live on his own at foster care.
Her son is good at coding and hacking and occasionally he hacks the academic class tests for himself and his classmates for money. The twist in the movie starts when her mother is recognized in CCTV by the Defense Intelligence Agency six years after she went dark and was thought to be dead. The agency approaches Benjamin, her son and he has doubts about them. So, he hacks the Cyber Defense Agency to access all files related to Zeus.
Together with Benjamin is a new girl named, Savannah who is also an orphan and is planted as a spy by the Patriots to get access to Benjamin’s mother. The Patriots succeed. But her son escapes with the help of her mother’s ally. He plans to get his mother back and that’s when the climax of the movie starts. The movie picks up speed there and we see a bit of action towards the end of the movie.
A lighter version of The Da Vinci Code
Basically the movie has too many shots that go unexplained. It feels kind of an adaptation of a novel that cannot show the whole novel, so they fit in as much as they can. In short, it’s like a lighter version of one of Dan Brown’s novel adapted movies. The viewer feels that there is something to connect to in a scene and waits for it to come next, but it doesn’t come. The number of characters is just adequate but the screenplay could have been better.
Should you watch it?
If this is one of your first movies in Danish, it will feel different. The direction of the movie is quite different than a Hollowood or a Bollywood movie, which can leave the viewer sometimes feeling uneasy with the flow of the film. But the movie is a good watch especially more so to explore the Danish-spoken movies.
The movie has won an award for the best film in the category ages 6–10 at Stockholm Film Festival Junior 2019.
But irrespective of the age category of the award, its a good watch for viewers of all ages, more so if you want to experience the uniqueness of the direction of Danish films.
