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Silk Road

Play trailer 2:12 Poster for Silk Road R Released Feb 19, 2021 1h 56m Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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51% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Inspired by larger-than-life actual events, this riveting crime thriller follows the rise and fall of Silk Road, the infamous darknet site that sent a seismic shock through the World Wide Web. Young, idealistic, and driven to succeed, Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) creates the internet's first unregulated marketplace: Silk Road. But when it becomes a multimillion-dollar pipeline for illicit drugs, Ross is set on a collision course with Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke), a disreputable and dangerously unpredictable DEA agent, who will use any means necessary to take him down.
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Silk Road

Silk Road

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Critics Consensus

Silk Road draws intriguing parallels between its oppositional main characters, but doesn't do quite enough to develop the story surrounding them.

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Critics Reviews

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Mark Kermode Kermode & Mayo's Film Review A passable cybercrime thriller...kind of manages to be interesting, though the invented stuff feels VERY invented... Mar 30, 2021 Full Review Linda Marric New Scientist Robinson gives a suitably nervy and understated performance as the anti-hero you wish you could root for. Mar 18, 2021 Full Review Danny Leigh Financial Times The game of cat-and-mouse is diverting enough... Rated: 3/5 Mar 17, 2021 Full Review Daryl MacDonald InSession Film Silk Road plays more like a run-of-the-mill thriller than anything else. Rated: C Apr 26, 2024 Full Review Rebecca Johnson Film Focus Online Suffice it to say, it may not shock or fascinate like a documentary would've been able to, yet it manages to remain grounded, believable and engaging for the entire two hour run-time. Rated: 3/5 Aug 6, 2023 Full Review Josh Parham Next Best Picture The film wants us to see a complicated world filled with bad actors with some good tendencies but none of these characters are interesting enough to justify whatever thematic commentary is provided. Rated: 5/10 Jun 8, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jack M Ok so where to start is the most difficult. I was aware of the Silk Road when it was happening 10 or so years ago. Earlier this year I came across a podcast which stirred my interest in the subject again. Since that I have listened to many podcasts and have recently just completed the book American Kingpin by Nick Bolton. This is a fantastic listen and if you have the slightest bit of Interest in the Silk Road then it is a must read or listen. Because of the amount of material I had consumed up to that point I made a point of holding off watching this film to see what they did with it. What a huge let down! In all the different sources of media while reading about this since January the story, overall is quite consistent and is very intriguing. This film has taken what could have been a very good movie and made a complete mess of the story. Nothing short of a mess and if you know nothing about Silk Road and come to this movie first then it's an injustice to the actual story which is fascinating. If you are reading this and want to know more about the subject and haven't watched the movie ….. Don't. In every source for the story there is one guy who goes by the title of VJ and his influence on DPR is significant with so may aspects of Silk Road but he is not even mentioned in the movie. I am assuming that this is a legal issue but without him it weakens an already poor telling of the story. All in all a vey poor movie on the subject if like me you know the full story. They could have done so much more with this but have failed in every aspect. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/23/24 Full Review Richard B The movie does no Justice to the actual nonfiction of the real life story. The book is 1000x better than this film. I don't know if the director read the book. This movie is way off to what actually happened. Great story in the book translated to an awful awful movie. Pretty painful to watch. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/23 Full Review stoner j Absolutely underrated gem of a true crime drama with excellent work showing both sides of the criminal and the cops investigation of it, awesome movie! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Wolfgang G Silk Road – Gebieter des Darknets (Originaltitel: Silk Road) ist ein Thriller von Tiller Russell, der auch das Drehbuch schrieb… Der junge, ehrgeizige Unternehmer Ross Ulbricht gründet eine anonyme und unregulierte Darknet-Website, die sich schnell zum illegalen Marktplatz für Drogen entwickelt… Wenn ich den Film sehe, fällt mir „The Social Network" mit Jesse Eisenberg ein... In „Silk Road – Gebieter des Darknets" geht es um Ross Ulbricht und um seine Geschichte, die etwas langatmig ist. Gutes Drehbuch und Regie Tiller Russell. Die beiden Hautdarsteller Jason Clarke und Nick Robinson haben mit ihrer Katz und Maus Spiel eine gute Leistung abgegeben… Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/29/23 Full Review Audience Member The abuse of prescription drugs is raging across the globe.... Mass murder by Big Pharma and law enforcement turning a blind eye... Film doesn't do any justice.... Maybe it will open some eyes to some that don't understand how serious this genocide is.. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Gosh, what a crappy director. I noticed 5 errors of continuity already within the first 15 minutes. Everything is done so much on the cheap that an interesting and cool story is turned into something annoying right from the start. 4/10 points. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Inspired by larger-than-life actual events, this riveting crime thriller follows the rise and fall of Silk Road, the infamous darknet site that sent a seismic shock through the World Wide Web. Young, idealistic, and driven to succeed, Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) creates the internet's first unregulated marketplace: Silk Road. But when it becomes a multimillion-dollar pipeline for illicit drugs, Ross is set on a collision course with Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke), a disreputable and dangerously unpredictable DEA agent, who will use any means necessary to take him down.
Director
Tiller Russell
Producer
Stephen Gans, Jack Selby, Duncan Montgomery, David Hyman, Alex Orlovsky
Screenwriter
Tiller Russell
Distributor
Lionsgate Films
Production Co
Piccadilly Pictures, High Frequency Entertainment, Perfect Season Productions, Mutressa Movies
Rating
R (Pervasive Language|Drug Content)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 19, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 19, 2021
Runtime
1h 56m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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