Director Report Card: Vincenzo Natali (2002)

2. Cypher

Even though “Cube” would cause a minor stir in the world of horror, sci-fi, and cult cinema fandom, it still took Vincenzo Natali five years to get his next feature made. I guess that's the world of independent filmmaking for you, where financing is harder than ever to come by. While “Cube” was an exceptionally low budget film, Natali's follow-up would be more ambitious featuring far more special effects and sets. A seven million dollar budget – small by studio means but huge compared to “Cube” – was raised to bring “Cypher” to life. The film would be released in most parts of the world in 2002. 

Morgan Sullivan takes a job with DigiCorp, acting as a corporate spy that will travel to conferences for different companies and industries, and record their presentations. He is given the cover identity of Jack Thursby. He hopes these missions will inject some excitement into his mundane, suburban existence. Instead, Morgan/Jack starts to suffer from nightmares and headaches. A mysterious woman, named Rita, soon appears to him and tells him that DigiCorp is actually brainwashing him into believing he is Jack Thursby. He soon aligns himself with a rival company, to spy on DigiCorp as a double agent. Yet, Morgan soon learns that nothing is as it seems in this world of corporate espionage.

As “Cube” combined sci-fi, horror, psychology, and philosophy, Vincenzo Natali's follow-up is a similarly diverse genre hybrid. “Cypher” is set in a world that sometimes seems a lot like our's. There are droning corporate presentation and standard suburban homes. Yet the film will then spring some sci-fi concepts on us, like brainwashing via high-tech machines, underground labs that unfurl onto the surface, or spaceship shaped helicopters. The film also has a frequently retro feeling to it, with its focus on men in nice suits smoking cigarettes or drinking bourbon. This adds a certain noir-like atmosphere to the proceedings, which fits a story full of uncertain alliances and twists and turns. 

Yet, primarily, “Cypher” is set within the espionage genre. As is typical of the genre, the film features a convoluted story. Several times throughout the film, Morgan is working with a different corporate entity, each one with their own plans for him. It can be tricky, sometimes, to keep track of who the protagonist is aligned with at any given point. Moreover, the story is characterized by a prevailing sense of paranoia. Morgan can never be sure who to trust at any given point. Random passerby's turn out to be agents for one corporate entity or another. Even as he's given new information that affects his choices, you have to wonder if it's not part of another plot to betray him. Like the best spy movies, “Cypher” puts us in the mindset of someone who never knows who to trust.

“Cypher” is also a very cerebral take on another type of story: The married man's mid-life crisis story. We only get a few peeks at Morgan's married life but it seems deeply unhappy. His wife bosses him around. His day job is that of an accountant, the most boring job screenwriters can imagine. By going undercover as “Jack Thursby,” he gets a chance to reinvent himself. He imagines “Jack” as an exciting man who smokes cigarettes, drinks bourbon, and has adventures in the Pacific ocean. Most notably, his new identity gives him a chance to pursue strange, beautiful new women... At least until they point out he's still wearing his wedding ring. Considering the darker reveals that are coming, I suspect “Cypher” is knowingly invoking the trope of a miserable married man trying to bring some excitement into his life. Morgan certainly gets just that in this story.

By the time “Cypher” was released, it was after “The Matrix,” “Dark City,” and a number of similarly-themed films. The term “cyberpunk” wasn't as widely used as it is now but the style was definitely having a moment at the time. “Cypher” somewhat falls into this movement of movies as well, mostly for the way it blends sci-fi ideas with themes of uncertain identity. By the middle of the film, neither Morgan nor the viewer is entirely sure who he is. In this world where people can be perfectly brainwashed, we are left wondering if anyone can be entirely sure of who they are. “Cypher” also takes place in a world were corporations, seemingly selling ordinary products like perfume or processed cheese, are able to go to war with each other, another element of the cyberpunk movement that seemed both absurd and prescient.

One of my favorite things about “Cypher” is how it slowly reveals its science fiction elements. We get brief glimpses of it from the beginning, with Morgan hooked up to some sort of elaborate lie detector device. Yet, after that, the movie holds off until a key sequence where Morgan sees the brainwashing procedure up-close. That involves fractal-like test patterns appearing on-screen before metallic apparati are strapped to people's head. They are injected by needles and have messages played over their eyes, flashing messages right into their brains. By this point, we accept that the film takes place in a science-fiction universe. Which prepares us for the Vault, the movie's most elaborate flight of fancy. The entrance to the underground base folds up out of a cornfield, people stepping up a series of rising steps and into a high-tech elevator. It's pretty neat and well-done.

Even if its story sometimes gets a bit confusing, “Cypher” is still compelling on a narrative level throughout most of its run time. You wonder whether Morgan will ever escape from this web, of questioning his own identity, of being uncertain who he can and cannot trust. However, throughout the film, a mysterious employer is mentioned again and again. The viewer figures it out a few scenes before the characters do that neither Morgan nor Jack is our protagonist's actual identity. It robs the climax of a little bit of tis power when you can logic out the incoming twist right before the script unfolds it.

With much more money to play with than on his debut movie, Vincenzo Natali is able to engineer some far more elaborate visuals in “Cypher.” When Morgan is under the effects of the brainwashing drug, Dutch angles are affected along with some other disorientating, whooshing visuals. This recalls some of the clumsier moments in “Cube” but, luckily, the rest of “Cypher” looks a lot better. The scenes, set in conference rooms and offices, have a precise presentation, that seems both distant and cold. As the story grows more outlandish, Natali adds more color. The brainwashing sequence is set in deep blues. The visit to the Vault features deep greens and ambery yellows. It's very cool looking and gives “Cypher” a feel that's unique from similarly themed sci-fi films from around the same time. 

“Cypher' stars an actor named Jeremy Northam. He's an English actor best known for appearing in period dramas, like “The Tudors,” “Gosford Park,” “Emma,” and “The Crown.” Which is probably why I'm not very familiar with him, as that's not my favorite genre. Yet Mr. Northam seems well-cast here. Morgan Sullivan is a nerd, who is hopelessly in-over-his-head and pursuing a juvenile idea of what he thinks is cool. Northam plays up that awkwardness, making the character a geeky everyman that the viewer can easily relate too. Northam is also a decent enough actor to sell the eventual transformation, even if he's not quite as convincing as an experienced spy as he is a fumbling dude having a mid-life crisis.

The co-star of the film, and the closest thing “Cypher” has to a name star, is Lucy Liu as Rita. In her early scenes, Liu has to do nothing but project a smoldering sexuality. Seeing as how Lucy Liu is gorgeous and amazing, she has no problem doing just that. It's easy to see why a guy like Morgan Sullivan would immediately be entranced by her. Yet, for all her beauty and sex appeal, Rita comes across as a very cold person. Her role as a spy keeps her from getting too close to anyone. As the reason why she can't get too attached to Morgan/Jack becomes clear, Liu is allowed to insert a little pathos into her performance. It's nice to see her stretch her obvious talent, beyond just being cast because as a seductive femme fatale.

Just to let you know he hasn't forgotten his Canadian roots, “Cypher's” supporting cast is filled out with recognizable Canadian character actors. Nigel Bennett – who I immediately recognize as “Forever Knight's” LaCroix – appears as Finster, one of the agents attempting to convince Morgan/Jack to trust him. As always, Bennett exudes a certain sort of slimy charm that is well-utilized here. David Hewlett reappears from “Cube” as Virgil, the mysterious keeper of the Vault. Wearing an oddball contact lens on one eye, suggestive of a glass eye, Hewlett gets a stand-out scene where he displays his skills as a detector of spies. It's one of the most suspenseful moments in the film and that's largely thanks to Hewlett's performance.

I have no idea how wide of a release “Cypher” was given in 2002. Considering I had never heard of the movie until I started to research Vincenzo Natali's career, I'm going to say it was not widely seen when new. The movie has not exactly grabbed the cult following of some of Natali's other work. Yet I would recommend “Cypher” be sought out. While the movie's story does not hold together all the way through, it proves to be a twisting and entertaining motion picture. Natali continues to find interesting ways to express his take on sci-fi ideas while blending them with other genres. [Grade: B]