Cypher

Play trailer

Cypher

R

2002

1h 30m

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) is an accountant anxious for a more exciting life. He gets his chance when Digicorp hires him as a corporate spy. While carrying out his first missions, however, Sullivan keeps crossing paths with an enigmatic woman named Rita (Lucy Liu), who claims Digicorp is brainwashing him. Soon Morgan is questioning everything about his life, including his own identity -- making things increasingly complicated when he becomes a double agent for Digicorp's rival, Sunways.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Empire Magazine

Rated: 4/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

Natali can't be bothered to fashion an actual human story around the perpetually buzzing toys and non-stop backstabbing and double-crossing.

Rated: 1/4

Jun 19, 2004

Full Review

Neil Smith

BBC.com

Rated: 4/5

Aug 13, 2003

Full Review

Mark R. Leeper

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Brian King's screenplay make this a fast paced science fiction adventure very much of the style of Philip K. Dick.

Rated: 9/10

Jun 15, 2010

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Wildly ill-conceived on-screen with a droning, derivative, mind-numbing, and incredibly bad film.

Apr 29, 2009

Full Review

Jason Gorber

Film Scouts

A bit too clever and precious for it's own good, it's a fairly decent yet predictable near-future thriller.

Rated: B-

Jun 21, 2007

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Surprisingly good for an early 2000s sci-movie, it genuinely had a good twist I did not see coming.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/10/25

Full Review

isla s

This is very much science fiction film (it reminded me of Johnny Pneumonic) although it also has elements of a spy film, with double crossing being a main theme. It features lots of futuristic technology/gadgets and artificially bright lighting, plus robotic sounding noises in the background. It also made me think of Men in Black, in terms of the memory wiping device in those films. It could be quite a disorientating watch, due to some of the visual effects. It felt a bit tacky to me personally - I suppose its spooky in tone but it felt a bit unoriginal and lacking. I didn't really buy into the main character, Morgan, which is a problem. I also think perhaps the film makers tried too hard to make the viewer feel worried or gripped about whats going on but the lack of plot depth and context, plus the mediocre visual effects meant it didn't work for me - I fast forwarded through to the end, which is a bad sign in general. It's no Matrix, suffice to say. I wouldn't recommend this film, no.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Most of the positive reviews are true.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Bill F

Don't waste your time on this. Pretty mind-numbingly boring with awful dialogue and some seriously naff special effects. To repeat, just don't waste your time!

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/22

Full Review

Audience Member

A dull boring middle age's futuristic fantasy, it's budget but strangely enjoyable mystery that makes you doubt yourself haha.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

very good, time for a remake!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Vincenzo Natali

Director

Jeremy Northam

Morgan Sullivan

Lucy Liu

Rita Foster

Nigel Bennett

Finster

Timothy Webber

Callaway

David Hewlett

Virgil C. Dunn

B. Monkey

60%

54%

B. Monkey

Watchlist

Last Embrace

58%

32%

Last Embrace

Watchlist

Hypnotic

44%

35%

Hypnotic

Watchlist

The Guilty

40%

43%

The Guilty

Watchlist

Miranda

38%

35%

Miranda

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) is an accountant anxious for a more exciting life. He gets his chance when Digicorp hires him as a corporate spy. While carrying out his first missions, however, Sullivan keeps crossing paths with an enigmatic woman named Rita (Lucy Liu), who claims Digicorp is brainwashing him. Soon Morgan is questioning everything about his life, including his own identity -- making things increasingly complicated when he becomes a double agent for Digicorp's rival, Sunways.

Director: Vincenzo Natali
Producer: Hunt Lowry, Paul Federbush, Casey La Scala, Wendy Grean
Screenwriter: Brian King
Production Co: Gaylord Films, Pandora Cinema, Miramax Films
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now