Taglines: Escape is impossible when you’re caught in the net.
The Net movie storyline. United States Secretary of Defense Michael Bergstrom commits suicide after being informed that he has tested positive for HIV. Angela Bennett is a systems analyst from Venice, California who telecommutes to Cathedral Software in San Francisco. Her interpersonal relationships are almost completely online and on the phone, with the exception of forgettable interactions with her neighbors and visits to her mother, who is institutionalized with Alzheimer’s disease and often forgets who Bennett is.
Bennett’s co-worker Dale sends her a floppy disk with a backdoor labeled “π” that permits access to a commonly used computer security system called “Gatekeeper” sold by Gregg Microsystems, a software company led by CEO Jeff Gregg. Dale and Bennett agree to meet, but the navigation system in Dale’s private aircraft malfunctions and it crashes into a tower, killing him.
Bennett travels to Mexico, on vacation, where she meets Jack Devlin. After seducing Bennett, Devlin pays a mugger to steal her purse as they walk along the beach. He chases the mugger into the foliage and roots through the purse to find the disk before shooting him. He takes Bennett out on his speedboat to kill her as well, but she finds his gun and confronts him. While fleeing with the disk and Devlin’s wallet, Bennett’s dinghy collides with rocks, destroying the disk and hospitalizing her. She is unconscious for three days.
When Bennett wakes up, she finds that all records of her life have been deleted: She was checked out of her hotel room, her car is no longer at the airport parking lot, and her credit cards are invalid. Bennett’s home is empty and listed for sale. Moreover, because none of the neighbors remember her, they cannot confirm her identity. Bennett’s Social Security number is now assigned to a “Ruth Marx”, for whom Devlin has entered an arrest record by hacking the police computer system.
When Bennett calls her own desk at Cathedral Software, an impostor answers and offers Bennett her old life back in exchange for the disk. She contacts the only other person who knows her by sight, psychiatrist and former lover Alan Champion. He checks her into a hotel, offers to contact a friend at the FBI, and arranges to have her mother moved for her safety.
Using her knowledge of the backdoor and a password found in Devlin’s wallet, Bennett logs into the Bethesda Naval Hospital’s computers and learns that Secretary of Defense Bergstrom, who had opposed Gatekeeper’s use by the federal government, was misdiagnosed. Fellow hacker “Cyberbob” identifies π with the “Praetorians”, a notorious group of cyberterrorists linked to recent computer failures around the country.
Bennett and Cyberbob plan to meet, but the Praetorians intercept their online chat. Bennett escapes from Devlin—a contract killer for the cyberterrorists, but the Praetorians kill Champion by tampering with pharmacy and hospital computer records. After Bennett is arrested by the California Highway Patrol, a man identifying himself as Champion’s FBI friend frees her from jail. She realises he is an impostor and escapes again.
The Net is a 1995 American cyber action thriller film directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, Dennis Miller, Diane Baker, Wendy Gazelle, Ken Howard, Ray McKinnon, Kristina Krofft, Margo Winkler and Gene Kirkwood.
The Net (1995)
Directed by: Irwin Winkler
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, Dennis Miller, Diane Baker, Wendy Gazelle, Ken Howard, Ray McKinnon, Kristina Krofft, Margo Winkler, Gene Kirkwood
Screenplay by: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Production Design by: J. Dennis Washington
Cinematography by: Jack N. Green
Film Editing by: Richard Halsey
Costume Design by: Linda M. Bass
Set Decoration by: Anne D. McCulley
Art Direction by: Thomas T. Taylor
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and brief strong language.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: July 28, 1995
Views: 428
