Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller
Director: Shane Black
Writer: Dominic Wilkins
Cast: Tom Holland, Maisie Williams, Cameron Monaghan, Alex Lawther, Mel Gibson, Dave Bautista, Greg Kinnear, Joonas Suotamo
Plot: Will (Tom Holland) is crawling in a dusty industrial air vent, with Andrew (Alex Lawther) following him closely. Will lights up the room below with his flashlight, as Andrew tries to look at the contents of the room. He quickly turns his flashlight off as an armed men opens the door of said room. Will looks behind him and Andrew tries to tell to Will that he saw something, but with gestures. Will looks at the inscription on the man’s jacket, ISC. Andrew saw it too and they start to freak out. They wait for him to leave and it feels like an eternity. They slowly crawl down and open their backpacks. They turn on their flashlight and Will lets out a little scream of joy when he sees a pile of old laptops. Andrew starts to freak out and urges him to shut up. They pack everything in their bag and they leave without leaving a trace. When they get out, they both burst out laughing, with a decayed New York City in the background. They go down into a subway station and show their ID to enter. They are told that they must be scanned, random test. Will and Andrew are profusely sweating and really nervous, but the scan doesn’t reveal anything abnormal, they were looking for guns and weapons after the recent attacks in the subway. They don’t see it, but when they leave, their names and photos are printed out and entered in a surveillance list. A man with a ISC jacket comes in grabs the list.
Opening Credits
Daisy (Maisie Williams) is doing her homework in the college library. She doesn't notice the boys staring at her from a distance. Andrew always had a thing for this tomboy and often gets teased by it by Will and Ben (Cameron Monaghan). She looks up from her book, takes one headphone off and asks the boys what they want, as everyone around look at her. Will, Andrew and Ben, sensing the malaise, take their things and leave. As the sun is setting down, they decide to head back to the dorm, where they will finally be able to look at the computers Will and Andrew brought the other day. They don’t know that Daisy is following them, and as the door of their dorm room is about to close, Daisy places her foot down and she enters. She surprises them and she wants to know what she did to attract them. She says she’s not looking for a boyfriend and nobody ever liked her before and she thinks jerks like them only fake being interested in her to make fun of her later. Andrew, socially inapt and shy, is literally shaking, she’s exactly as he hoped she would be; rude, awkward and a bit funny. Will says they aren’t making fun of her, Andrew is really attracted to her, but he never had the guts to go and talk to her, let alone ask her out. Daisy notices him shaking and says that just by looking at him she can see why. As she looks at Andrew, she sees the pile of laptops on the table. She walks in their direction and asks what the hell a group of piss poor college students did to be able to buy so many computers. They are really expensive and it can take weeks to have one after you submit your demand. Andrew, who seems to think she would like people that direct and frank, just like her, bluntly says they stole them. Ben and Will jump on him, telling him to shut up. Daisy says it’s cool, she’s no going to rat them out, as she always wanted to have one, it’s her dream in fact. Her grades aren’t good enough to get selected to leave and she knows how to make money, a lot of money. The boys look at her, confused, but with a glimpse of hope. They knew about the trick too, they wanted to sell it back to people and make a fortune!
Robert Finlay (Mel Gibson), the head of the Power to the People of the United States group is grooming his hair in preparation of his video conference with the leaders of the countries. Robert is gaining more and more power behind the scene, but his decision will always be diminished by the rest of the group, as he can’t go to Washington and meet them in person, as he’s wheelchair bound as he lost both his legs during a riot while going to Washington and refuses to travel there ever since. Robert lives in a spacious palace and is clearly richer than everyone else around him, but not rich enough to leave the country. His fortune comes from the aggressive subscription campaign he put in place, where he sends his men collect a huge part of the revenue from the people who live nearby. His personal bodyguard, Jackson (Dave Bautista) protects him from people and is basically his maid, but don’t tell him that. He lifts up Robert and brings him in his chair facing the webcam so he can start the videoconference.
Daisy thinks the boys are idiots to think that they could do something like this. They would get caught within hours and probably killed for that. She opens her backpack and show them a book from the library about how the young people used to have fun back when everything was normal. They learn about MMO games and how there was a whole economy based on the game. She takes the initiative and opens a computer. She uses the book to turn it on and to log on the college wi-fi. They don’t really understand the concept of wi-fi as none of them have enough money to afford anything with an internet connection, but they’re still able to do it. She follows the steps described in the book and downloads the newest MMO, hoping people would still be playing it somewhere else. While it’s downloading, she urges the boys do turn on all the other computers and do the same thing and they do. While it’s downloading, she tells them that she has no other choice but to be their friend now, or else she would rat them out on stealing computers. They talk about their lives and stop looking at the computers. Ben is the one to notice that they aren’t downloading anymore.
Eric (Greg Kinnear), the head of security and surveillance at the college turns off the wi-fi at 10 pm every night, to save money. He takes a look at the data usage from the day and he notices a significant increase, starting today. He swears that he’ll look into this and schedules a search tomorrow with his agents, he wants to know who uses the internet.
Thousands of miles away, a man (Joonas Suotamo) looks at data in the ultra-modern data center. His office has a window and he can see the riot in the street below, but at this point, it has become so common that he doesn’t care anymore. He drops his coffee mug after he’s surprised by a brick thrown at his window, but it doesn’t break. His boss comes in and says that Agent Zero has been summoned to New York to deal with something. Zero argues, saying the kids are just thieves and he should be used for something more meaningful, but after his extreme use of violence the last time he went out, that’s his punishment. Zero leaves angrily and heads for the garage where he leaves in an armored truck. The doors open and snipers shot at people who were trying to get in. The truck doesn’t stop and rolls over everyone standing in his saw, as Agent Zero looks on, unfazed.
The group stayed up all night, waiting for the wi-fi to be turned back on, playing truth or dare, where they learned a lot about each other. They all fall asleep as the day begins and the download restarts. Eric notices the data usage is once again sky high. Along with his agents, they grab their weapons and their suits, they will search the premises and find out what’s happening, as only a few people usually access the wi-fi. The game is finally installed on one of the computers and Will is the that finds out about it. All excited, he wakes up the others and they start playing. The connection isn’t really good and they have no idea what they’re doing, but play anyway. They have no interest in the game whatsoever, but Daisy takes control and she uses the chat to present herself and her situation. A few people are answering back from all over the world. They are all enamored by the situation and soon find themselves chatting with people all over the world, explaining their situation. They are approached by some of them, but before they get a chance to answer back they hear the knock on the door, it’s Eric and his goons. They throw all the computers in the bathroom and Andrew hides in it, afraid of what will happen.
Robert tells Jackson that they will soon be able to leave the country, to Jackson’s delight, they need about a year worth of revenue before they’re able to leave. He watches on his numerous cameras his people collecting money. He also monitors his bank account closely and laughs as he sees his balance increasing. Robert tells Jackson that he wants out of this hell sooner and he set his sight on a new, unexploited territory, the nearby college and he decided that Jackson would be the one to collect the money from there, it’s a big operation and he wants his best man on it.
Agent Zero looks through the truck’s window at the devastated New York. There are riots everywhere, with people hiding and the rare buildings that are untouched are heavily guarded by the ISC. He puts on his glasses and receives his assignment through his them. The interface shows him his cover; he’s a replacement teacher at the college and he also finds out his home for the duration of his mission and where the teens are supposed to be staying. The trucks parks in front of the dorm areas and Zero looks up at the teen’s room window.
Will sees the ISC truck and he also sees Agent Zero looking at him. Their eyes meet for a moment, but when Ben opens the door, he turns his attention to Eric who wants to search their room. They look on as Eric go through their things and looks at them from time to time. You can clearly feel the tension as they look at each other in silence. It’s Ben who breaks the silence and asks Eric what they’re looking for. He’s rudely told that it’s confidential. He takes out his scanner and scans them to confirm their identity. He notices that one of their friends is missing, the surveillance data he gathered over the years shows him that Andrew is missing. Will doesn’t know what to say and the first thing that comes to his mind is that Andrew is in the bathroom as he’s throwing up and has been shitting himself all night. Eric wants to confirm and opens the bathroom door. The camera quickly shifts to Will, Ben and Daisy’s worried faces. Eric looks in the bathroom, scans Andrew who’s on the can and closes the door, when he hears a low sound coming from the bathroom. He opens it again and Andrew apologizes for the noise. Eric suspiciously looks at the teens again before leaving. He notes their room on his notepad and proceeds to the next door as they sigh of relief. The all pick up the computers from the bathtub and resume their chatting. Daisy keeps on reading the book about the game and finds out about the marketplace within the game where you can buy things from other people. They talk about it in the chat and people are supportive, offering them to buy their crappy stuff for what is worth a fortune in the States.
Agent Zero waits in Eric’s office to let him know that he will be working here for a while and he must respect the Interior Security Council authority while he’s there to investigate. When Eric comes in, he respects Zero’s demands and notes that they were weird when he visited their room, but there were two other students other than Andrew and Will, so gives him all the info he has on Daisy and Ben. Zero tells Eric that they all have a class together tomorrow and he will take a good look at them.
The teens all see their bank account’s balance increase as a result of the show of solidarity of the online community and build a small fortune, so imagine what they could do if they did this all day and sold better stuff. They spend the entire day selling stuff, as Eric keeps looking at his data usage suspiciously.
The next day, Andrew is seen walking on the campus with a sports bag full of computers. Together, they decided to hide the computers in a locker near the pool nobody uses, so if Eric comes back, he will not see them hidden in their room. Andrew walks nervously, he feels like he’s being followed by someone, but categorically refuses to turn around. He walks faster and faster to a point where he’s running. He runs down the stairs and locks the bag in a locker, only to find out that nobody was following him. He calms down and goes to class, where he sits next to Will, Ben and Daisy. The teacher comes in, a foreign giant, his name, Mr. Warner. Will looks at the others with a frightened look. Mr. Warner / Agent Zero begins his class and through his glasses quickly identifies Daisy, Will, Ben and Andrew. He goes on and on and the class feels like an eternity for Will. At the break, he tells everything to his friends and they decide that it’s in their best interest to get the hell out of here. As they’re leaving, Will peeks behind and he notices Mr. Warner packing thing, getting himself ready to leave, just like them.
Jackson is collecting money from students and forces them to sign a membership to the Power to the People of the United States group. He grabs his scanner that shows exactly how much money a person has. He points out a window and is surprised by the amount of money that pops up on his scanner. He focuses a little bit more to try and find out who’s rich and he finds our group of friends. He memorizes how they’re dressed and their names and runs out to find them.
Andrew tells Ben that he’s too afraid to go and find the computers alone this time and Ben says he will go get them, but the others should do everything they can to not let the ISC agent follow him. Speaking of Agent Zero, he’s following them from a distance, doing his best to hide his giant self so they don’t see him. Ben separates from the group and merges with another one, so he doesn’t walk alone, making small talk with them, but they soon walk away from him. He walks faster and faster to the locker where Andrew hid the computers, but he’s blocked by Jackson who deforms the locker with his fist. He tears the door apart and looks in the bag. Ben tries to scream for help, but nobody’s around. Jackson asks why a poor student has tons of computers in its possession and after scanning him, asks him how he got this much money. Ben is evasive, trying to talk his way out of the situation, but Jackson punches him in the mouth and signs his membership card for the PPUS party with the blood dripping, before taking pretty much all of his cash away with his device. He asks him where his friends are, but Ben won’t answer, so he knocks him out cold, before calling Robert, telling him he’s bringing money home. Eric, from the comfort of his office, notices Jackson leaving the campus with Ben. He turns on the alarm, signaling an intruder on campus and he leaves in a hurry with his agents.
As the others are back in the dorm room waiting for Ben to arrive, they grow increasingly worried when he doesn’t show up. They look through the windows and through the door, but can’t see anything, certainly not Mr. Warner. They hear the noise coming from the courtyard, where Eric’s men are battling Jackson and an unconscious Ben, as a way to get back their student. Will leads the way as the others follow. They hide up above and see everything going on. Jackson gets rid of most of the guards, before running away a little further. Will gets teary-eyed when he sees his best friend taken dragged around like a ragdoll and Daisy tells him to not get sissy and makes them move. Agent Zero is also looking at the scene and also decides to follow Jackson.
Jackson runs in the parking lot and takes a shotgun out of the trunk. He turns around and kills the security agents chasing him. Agent Zero is the next one to arrive and he uses a small device to turn off the electronics of Jackson’s car so it won’t start. Jackson grabs Ben once again and he runs away and into the city. Ben’s friends and the last one to follow and leave the campus.
Jackson is out of breath when he arrives at Robert’s house and he shows him Ben and how much money he had on it. He unpacks the computer and wake up Ben. They want him to show them what they did to get that much money. Will, Daisy and Andrew enter through a back door and, hoping to save their friend. They don’t know, however, that Agent Zero is just behind them, observing. They are soon caught by Jackson and taken to meet with Robert, who tells them how much money he can make with them and what it will allow him to do, all the while exposing his cynic point of view of the country. They are shocked to find that people who are supposed to work for them don’t want anything good to happen to them. They are tied up by Jackson and all their money is taken away from them. They suddenly hear a beeping sound over the voice of the perpetually rioting crowd in front of Robert’s house. An explosion is heard and the wall next to them explodes. Agent Zero enters and starts a fight with Jackson. Robert tries to interfere with his wheelchair, but Zero kicks him away with such force that he goes all the way across the room. Will, who was able to free himself and his friends after the explosion, runs towards the disabled Robert, opens the window and threatens him to give them their money back, or else, he will throw him down to the crowd below. Robert refuses, preferring to die rather than having to start all over again. Andrew, who has been silently scared all along, suggests to make him poor as he deserves the worse punishment for being such a jerk to the population. Ben grabs the money transferring device, as he saw how it worked, and he transfers all of Robert’s money back to his account. Daisy has been busy. She does her best to destroy the house, she unlocks the door in front and screams to the people outside that they can come in. They start invading the house and the friends can escape trough the back door, with their money and all of their friends.
Inside, the crowd is slowly taking over, people threatening Robert and finally killing him. Jackson and Zero’s fight, who know takes place outside, is put to rest as they try to fight against the rioting crowd who took over the house. Zero’s gadgets and Jackson’s brute force are not enough to take the upper hand, with the citizens taking advantage of the numbers game to gain the upper-hand. Will went in the garage and stole a bulletproof car and he takes it to escape with his friends. They drive fast through the devastated city, as Daisy and Andrew kiss in the backseat, she liked the show of character he demonstrated when he threatened Robert. Ben starts the GPS and they head for Canada. They all laugh at the devastation and how they’re happy to finally get out of this hellhole.
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