There was a stylish approach to this film on the part of director Vincenzo Natali with interesting camera angles and effective close-ups. It was also refreshing to see Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu given leading roles and expanding their range as performers. This film also included one of the most imaginative "escape" scenes in recent years. The efforts of the director and the actors combined in an effective thriller.

Although the plotting of the film was convoluted, the story progressed very clearly as the layers of corporate greed and skullduggery were revealed.

In 1949, George Orwell suggested in his famous novel "1984" that the future would be ruled by the totalitarian State, which would control minds and diminish human liberty. It was interesting that in this intriguing futuristic film, it was not the State, but rather the corporate world that controlled and devalued the human worker.

A mind-bending science fiction thriller that comes across as a mix of THE MATRIX and TOTAL RECALL. CYPHER doesn't have a huge budget, so don't go in expecting masses of special effects and mind-blowing visuals as in those other two films; instead this is a film offering purely cerebral thrillers as it works through the layers of consciousness to the very core of identity. Director Vincenzo Natali delivered the goods with CUBE and this is nearly as good.

In the end, it turns out the film has one twist too many, crossing the divide between the merely implausible and the outlandish, but that doesn't stop it being a pacey and inventive ride up until that point. Brian King's script keeps you guessing with a complex brew of brainwashing, corporate spying, femme fatales and one innocent man, and the film's premise is never less than intriguing. As for the cast, well, Jeremy Northam is fine as the everyday 'grey man' caught up in an adventure that's rapidly spiralling out of control, and Lucy Liu, who I usually dislike, has never been better.

CYPHER is one of those films it's best to not know too much about when you watch it; keeping up with the twisty-turny plotting is part of the appeal. I liked it.

Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) leaves his boring suburban life to take a job as an industrial spy at Digicorp. He goes to conventions to record presentations. He meets the mysterious Rita Foster (Lucy Liu) and he's pulled into an ever confusing world of competing corporate espionage.

This has a great surreal paranoid feel. However some of it has to be attributed to the complicated mess of relationships. It's twist upon twist until the movie stops being compelling. The style is still interesting. Northam and Liu are both good. Director Vincenzo Natali continues to show some fascinating ideas.