Ahhh the internet, a source of joy, pain, humour, and some seriously weird things. It has brought us some classic memes, iconic websites and has changed the way we have consumed media forever.
The internet is also a great topic for movies. Back when the internet was an idea or just a Netscape page, filmmakers used it to create some very doomsday-esque plots, which I mean, aren’t too far from the truth.
But since we love the internet so much (not just because its existence gives us jobs) we’ve gathered the best movies which focus on the World Wide Web.
Hackers
Whenever someone says “internet movie” this is the first film that pops into my head. Hackers stars a very young Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller and follows a group of young vigilante, you guessed it, hackers, who discover a plot to capsize oil tankers. This movie wasn’t received well in 1995 when it was released but now its deemed a cult classic. As it should be.
The Social Network
The Social Network is a kinda biographical movie on Mark Zuckerberg (sound familiar?) and how our now least favourite social networking site, Facebook was founded. One my favourite theatrical moments come from this film, when Andrew Garfield’s character Eduardo Saverin realises that The Zuck has royally screwed him over. See below for that moment.
Catfish
Did you know the MTV show Catfish was a movie first? And it features the now-host, Nev Schulman as the catfishing victim. The doco follows Nev who falls in love with a woman named Megan who he met on Facebook. His two best mates film him and document when Nev decides to meet Megan IRL.
Strange Days
This movie is very Black Mirror coded (or Black Mirror is very Strange Days coded, considering it came first), with its mind-bending, futuristic technology. It has conspiracy theories, brain-controlling technology and not to miss the mention of a “data disc”. It also features so many big names including Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis and was directed by Katheryn Bigelow and written by James Cameron (pre-divorce, obvs).
The Matrix
Okay so this isn’t really a movie about the internet per se, but I could not not leave it off the list. Released in 1999 it has cyberpunk (IYKYK), technology, dystopian vibes, how can it not be an internet movie?!
You’ve Got Mail
This is such a nostalgic movie for people who grew up on AOL and dial-up modems. Its also nostalgic in another form because its about a big, mean bookstore trying to hurt a little bookstore. But regardless, this movie could never be made today because it wouldn’t be focusing on email, but Hinge, and they’d never get together, he would just ghost her.
The Net
When you have a movie with the title The Net, you very much expect it to be super techy and internetty. It was made in the 90s so you know there will be scenes with government officials manically typing out some illegitimate code on a chunky monitor. PSA: the narration in the trailer is *chefs kiss*.
The Net and many other cult classic movies like The Opposite of Sex and Earth Girls Are Easy are available to watch live on Pedestrian Television, our parent company’s cool new streaming site, which can be found on 9Now.
Need more entertainment? Pedestrian Television has launched on 9Now where you can cult classic movies like Fright Night, and homegrown content like Eternal Family and Rostered On. Watch all that and more for free, 24/7 on 9Now.