Here’s the teaser for the new hacker television series Mr. Robot that took the South by Southwest Film Festival by storm earlier this year. It’s sort of like a darker version of Hackers, with a tormented geek hero named Elliot who is tempted by Anonymous-like forces of chaos.
Audiences who saw it at SXSW say it dramatizes Elliot’s struggle to figure out how to make a difference in the world using his technical skills. He’s got a couple of friends, including his therapist and a childhood pal named Angela — and his connection to them keeps him centered. But things get more complicated when he meets a shady guy (Christian Slater, in full Christian Slater mode) who is part of fsociety, a kind of amalgam of Anonymous, Wikileaks and 4chan. Basically they hate humanity and want to bring it all down.
What makes Mr. Robot sound intriguing is that its main character is so compelling, which is key for a psychological thriller. Hard to say whether the hacking in this show is going to be CSI: Cyber awful or on the level of the pretty-damn-good Person of Interest.
We’ll let you know this summer — the show will debut on June 24 on the USA network.
Contact the author at annalee@gizmodo.com.
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