iBoy (2017)

Movie Name/Year: iBoy (2017)

Genre: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

Length:  90 minutes

Rating: TV-MA

Production/Distribution: Netflix, XYZ Films, Wigwam Films, Pretty Pictures

Director: Adam Randall

Writers: Kevin Brooks, Joe Barton, Mark Denton, Jonny Stockwood

Actors: Bill Milner, Maisie Williams, Miranda Richardson, Rory Kinnear, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, Jordan Bolger, McKell David, Aymen Hamdouchi

Blurb from IMDb: After being shot, Tom wakes from a coma to discover that fragments of his smart phone have been embedded in his head, and worse, that returning to normal teenage life is impossible because he has developed a strange set of superpowers.

Cat’s Point of View:

iBoy has been teasing me from my Netflix list since it released in 2017. I was excited to finally get a chance to make time to watch it. Was it worth the wait? Definitely. 

I was drawn to the film for two main reasons - Maisie Williams (The Falling, Marry Shelley, Then Came You) and my love of the sci-fi genre. While I was anticipating and hoping that Williams’ character would flip the god of death the bird, as her character, Arya, in Game of Thrones (2011-2019) often did; I was pleasantly surprised by the performance by Bill Milner (Anthropoid, Dunkirk, The Lodgers). 

He was able to encapsulate the guilt-riddled and revenge-driven teen in a way that felt real, rather than over-the-top. Milner certainly held his own with this nuanced performance. I felt like I was watching a young Neo explore the matrix.  Of course, Williams didn’t disappoint at all. While this was a bit of a superhero origin story for the character of iBoy, Williams’ character, Lucy, was a heroine in her own right through bravery in fighting her own PTSD-fueled demons. 

Visually, the movie is stunning. I really enjoyed the representation of how Milner’s character viewed the world and his interactions. Aside from the technology aspects, the views of night-time cityscapes were gorgeous. It provided a great and glittery foil for the harsh and gritty reality of the world that the main characters lived in. 

The gangster elements of the story did feel a bit like they were following fairly typical goon recipes, but I honestly didn’t care. I didn’t even really mind the occasional plot hole big enough to swallow a car. 

iBoy proved to be interesting and innovative in its own way while keeping the old familiar tropes from feeling too tired. I would definitely recommend this movie to any fan of the genre. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 64% 

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 40% 

Metascore –50/100 

Metacritic User Score –5.3/10 

IMDB Score – 6.0/10 

CinemaScore – None 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5

Movie Trailer: