Line #27 Film/Cypher


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/affiche2_0.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:So... what else do you do besides travel to dull cities and talk to women in hotel bars?]]
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4	''Cypher'' is a 2002 sci-fi thriller directed by Creator/VincenzoNatali (of ''Film/{{Cube}}'' and ''Film/{{Splice}}'' fame), starring Creator/JeremyNortham and Creator/LucyLiu.
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6	The story follows Morgan Sullivan (Northam), a bored and henpecked house-husband who gets a job as a corporate spy in order to add some excitement into his dull routine and annoy his overbearing wife. At first he's thrilled by the prospect of creating a whole new life for himself as a "secret agent" but soon finds that the realities of the industry are somewhat less interesting - recording presentations about shaving cream distribution and consumer trends in the processed cheese market.
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8	However, after he runs into a beguiling and flirtatious woman named Rita Foster (Liu) at a hotel bar, things take a dive off the deep end.
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10	Beautifully shot with Natali's trademark visual flair, this was a smart low-budget neo-noir with a storyline very heavily influenced by Creator/PhilipKDick.
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12	Not to be confused with CypherLanguage.
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14	'''WARNING: Colossal Spoilers Ahead!'''
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17	!!This film provides examples of:
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19	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The only real change from now is the introduction of the neurograph devices, and the implausible architectural structure that is the Vault.
20	* FiveFiveFive: Notably averted with Rita's secret number, which uses 726 for the exchange code, rather than the 555 usually used in most movies fictional works. Howevever, 555 can still be seen printed on a taxi cab and is the middle section of the telephone number Finster gives Morgan to call him after the Vault job.
21	* AccentRelapse: Inverted; Morgan goes through a few along the course of his espionage activities due to inventing an accent for his spy persona. [[spoiler: Later subverted when he drops to his original British accent after remembering he's really Sebastian Rooks.]]
22	* AdrenalineMakeover: See BecomingTheMask.
23	* AlmightyJanitor: Virgil, the keeper of the vault, seems to have [[LivingLieDetector amazing skills]] but was demoted to do low rank work because computers have taken over the business.
24	* AppliedPhlebotinum: The neurograph and Rooks's brainwashing devices.
25	* BecomingTheMask: Morgan's transformation into the personality of his James Bond-esque alter ego, Jack Thursby. [[spoiler: Later subverted when Morgan is (not-really-)brainwashed by Digicorp in that his new life is just like his old crushingly boring and futile life, and not like the swish and romantic one he had invented for his first assignments]].
26	-->[[spoiler: "I... I smoke cigarettes! I play golf! I'm not supposed to live in the suburbs!"]]
27	* BeneathTheEarth: The Vault, which houses all of Sunway Systems secret files, is a massive complex located ''deep'' underground somewhere in the midwest, that can only be accessed through a super-fast elevator.
28	* BlackAndGrayMorality: Sebastian Rooks, a MagnificentBastard who is often ruthless but capable of genuine feelings (at least for Rita), versus the heads of Digicorp and Sunway Systems who are... just your ordinary ruthless bastards. There's also the protagonist Morgan Sullivan who tries to maneuver between all of them, [[spoiler:but he's actually Rooks]].
29	* {{Brainwashed}}: [[spoiler:Digicorp trains many of its field operatives this way, so they can pass through their opponents neurograph technology.]]
30	* BrainwashResidue: [[spoiler:His affection for Rita, the newly discovered smoking habit, interest in golfing and other traits of his true identity leak into Rooks's cover identity as Jack.]]
31	* BrokenMasquerade: What happens to Morgan ever after the RedPillBluePill incident.
32	* CatapultNightmare
33	* ChekhovsArmoury: See {{Foreshadowing}} below.
34	* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: Sebastian Rooks. He also has most of the qualities of the MagnificentBastard and the {{Manipulative Bastard}}]]
35	* ChessMotifs: Explicitly stated. Sebastian Rooks is the, er, Rook with Morgan Sullivan being the Pawn. [[spoiler:The clever part is the sacrificial [[FridgeBrilliance Pawn becoming the Rook]] when he reaches the reaches the metaphorical end of the board, all in order to protect the Queen, [[ActionGirl Rita]].]] The two opposing technology corporations, [=DigiCorp=] and Sunway Systems, are also color-coded as the opposing sides of a chess board, with [=DigiCorp=] being black, and Sunway Systems white.
36	* {{Desaturation}}: Morgan's world is an endless succession of neutral tones, by way of a heavily desaturated look.
37	* TheDreaded: Sebastian Rooks, to the extent that even Finster and Callaway appear to fear him. [[spoiler: Rooks later ensures his reputation is deserved when he kills them both in cold blood.]]
38	* DrinkBasedCharacterization: Morgan starts to drink "whiskey, single malt, on the rocks" whenever he's out doing missions as "Jack Thursby" because he wants to feel like a badass secret agent, even surprising his [[spoiler:fake wife]] when he says he wants some, because apparently he didn't drank before. [[spoiler:It eventually is revealed that it's because this is Sebastian Rooks's favorite alcoholic drink. Morgan's love for it is TheConstant after his memory erasure]].
39	* DrowningMySorrows: Dunn is shown to habitually drink heavily after musing on his banishment to the Vault after neurograph machines made his job as a mole spotter obsolete.
40	* DoubleAgent: Taken to ridiculous extremes. Almost every character is a double agent, to the extent you'll be sure that even the cleaners had a hidden agenda. And the protagonist [[spoiler: is... well, let's see. He starts as a spy for Digicorp, they brainwash him into a double agent to be planted at Sunways, but Sunways had the brainwashing sabotaged so he could be a triple spy, then he contacts Foster to become a spy for Rooks, then gets tempted into betraying Rooks for Digicorp as Rooks's mole in Digicorp had planned all along, and then turns out to be Rooks himself playing all the others. So that's 6 times; a Sextuple Spy. Yeah]].
41	* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: The protagonist is the [[ThisLoserIsYou plaything]] in a GambitPileup. He ends up a hex-tuple spy, ultimately working for [[spoiler:himself. He pulled a MemoryGambit before the movie began, so he could pass one set of lie-detectors to get into one agency, then fail the same set of lie-detectors to get into the rival agency.]]
42	* ElevatorActionSequence: A vertigo-inducing maglev variant.
43	* ElevatorEscape: See above.
44	* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:When Finster and Callaway realize they are after the same man (Rooks), they work together]].
45	* TheEnemyOfMyEnemyIsMyFriend: After being drawn in by her good looks, this is why Morgan begins to trust Rita.
46	* EyeScream: The brainwashing devices.
47	* FacelessGoons: The Sunways private army.
48	* FeedTheMole: Sunways' plan for Jack Thursby; see also UsefulNotes/TheThirtySixStratagems.
49	* FemmeFatale: Rita Foster.
50	* FlockOfWolves: Played with. It turns out that ALL the attendants of the conferences that the protagonist visits across the country in his job as a corporate spy are also agents of [=DigiCorp=] sent to spy on their competitors. However, they're not actually spies, but targets for [=DigiCorp=]'s brainwashing program.
51	* {{Foreshadowing}}: And how. [[spoiler: The boating book, whisky, Cohiba's, Rita, the bad dreams and headaches]]
52	* FreezeFrameBonus: At the finale of the movie, Rooks and Foster are looking at the disc containing the Sunway Systems file on Rita Foster which gives background on the character's life.
53	* FriendlessBackground: Morgan.
54	* GambitPileup: Might as well be the TropeCodifier.
55	* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Not only is Digicorp plotting against Sunways through Morgan, but Sunways are plotting against Digicorp through Sebastian Rooks. However, Rooks is also plotting against Digicorp and Sunways through Morgan Sullivan by way of Rita Foster and... well, just go watch it.]]
56	* TheGhost: Sebastian Rooks. [[spoiler: Later [[TheReveal revealed]] to have been a massive subversion.]]
57	* GoodCopBadCop: Played with with Finster and Callaway. Finster has a quietly menacing air about him from the word go, whilst Callaway is friendly and approachable when he introduces himself to Morgan. [[spoiler:Later subverted in that we see that they're both equally vicious, murdering bastards with their own private army of {{Mooks}}.]]
58	* HenpeckedHusband: Even after he's done all the cooking and cleaning, Morgan's wife shouts at him when he tells her he's going to be working freelance instead of going to work for her father. Thankfully Morgan has [[TookALevelInBadass Taken a Level in Badass]], and he refuses to go along with her plans for him. We later see an identical situation, with "Jack"'s wife ordering him about around the house and directing his career path. [[spoiler:And even later, we learn that Morgan's "wife" was just one of Rooks's employees posing as such.]]
59	* {{Homage}}: It's impossible to do a story like ''Cypher'' without at least alluding to PKD and ''Film/WhereEaglesDare''.
60	* HouseHusband: Justified in that his wife is the breadwinner, but Morgan clearly doesn't enjoy being one.
61	* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: [[spoiler:Morgan accidentally shoots Rita in the hotel]].
62	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:Justified by AppliedPhlebotinum]].
63	* LateArrivalSpoiler: Jeremy Northam was not a well-known actor when he took the role of Morgan Sullivan in 2002. However, his acting and the way he morphs into various different characters as the story continues and his character learns how to be a corporate spy was considered exceptional at the time. It won him several acting awards for the part that he played which unfortunately spoils the film for anyone who hasn't seen it. [[spoiler:He was awarded for playing three separate personas - Morgan Sullivan, Jack Thursby and Sebastian Rooks. The advertising of the awards it and its actors have won can ruin the major plot twist that Morgan Sullivan was Sebastian Rooks all along.]]
64	* LieDetector: The entire movie is build around the fact that neurograph machines have become able to tell for certain if somebody tells a lie. That's why spies have to be brainwashed in order to protect their secret identities.
65	* LivingLieDetector: Virgil Dunn. Nevertheless, neurograph machines have put him out of business. [[spoiler:He offers to demonstrate his skills to Morgan, and quickly concludes that he's a spy. Morgan gives him a TapOnTheHead to ensure he doesn't jeopardize his escape.]]
66	* LockedInAFreezer: One of the first scenes where Morgan is told what the hell is going on.
67	* MacGuffin: The disc from the vault. [[spoiler: Turns into a MockGuffin after the trip to The Vault since the true agenda is to ''delete'' the data, not to retrieve it. Morgan himself is a LivingMacGuffin created by Rooks]].
68	* ManchurianAgent: Subverted. [[spoiler:Morgan is already an agent and requires a trigger to go back to his normal self]].
69	* MeaningfulName: The character of Virgil C. Dunn (keeper of the vault) would appear to be a reference to the Latin poet Virgil, specifically in Dante's ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' it was Virgil who was the guide the Hell and Purgatory, as a non-Christian he was unable to enter Heaven.
70	* MegaCorp: Two of them, namely [=DigiCorp=] and Sunway Systems. [[spoiler: Complete with intelligence agencies that dwarf those of most countries, and of course their own commando teams.]]
71	* TheMenInBlack: Are in place everywhere to uphold the {{Masquerade}}.
72	* MexicanStandoff: [[spoiler:Between Digicorp and Sunway security forces in the hotel]].
73	* MindScrew: A GambitPileup complete with several [[TheReveal revelations]] and an [[TheEndingChangesEverything ending that changes everything]].
74	* MissionImpossibleCableDrop: Rita employs this trope when helping Morgan to escape from the vault.
75	* MockMillionaire: In getting into character, Morgan begins effecting traits of a globe-trotting playboy; wearing finer clothes, indulging in top-label scotch and cigarettes, referring to exotic locations he's traveled to on his yacht. [[spoiler:Subverted, as those are all qualities of his true personality, a genuine billionaire.]]
76	* TheMole: Too many to count.
77	* OhCrap: Morgan as he's trying to escape the lift shaft, plus Finster and Callaway as they see the bomb.
78	* PrecisionFStrike: ''Don't'' ask Morgan to go and work for his father-in-law.
79	* PretendToBeBrainwashed: A bunch of sales people are drugged from served drinks and then brainwashed. Amongst them, the protagonist manages to stay sober by means of an antidote. He then continues to act like everyone else while observing what is being done to the group.
80	* RedPillBluePill: "If you want answers, take the shot."
81	* SecretIdentity
82	* SeriousBusiness: Whatever business Digicorp is in. Yes, industrial espionage happens in the real world, but the resources spent here to spy on their competitor, and to prevent them from spying on you, are really turned up to eleven. Makes you wonder what exactly those companies make.
83	* SexierAlterEgo: Jack Thursby certainly is one to Morgan.
84	* SmokingIsCool: Morgan takes up smoking as part of his spy persona.
85	* SpannerInTheWorks:
86	** Finster, the head of security at [=DigiCorp=], works as a mole for Sebastian Rooks. However, his true loyalties remain with [=DigiCorp=]. He's been feeding intelligence to Rooks to lead him into a trap.
87	--->"It's a good plan really. Except for one little detail he forgot to account for. Me."
88	** Virgil almost ruins Morgan's escape from the Vault. He realizes that Morgan is a spy, but Morgan knocks him out. Virgil wakes up just in time to alert the guard at the entrance. As a consequence, the elevator back to the surface stops halfway and Morgan has to be rescued from the elevator shaft by Rita.
89	* SpotTheImposter: "Are you a double agent?"
90	* SpyFiction: With CyberPunk elements.
91	* StepfordSuburbia: After his interview with Digicorp, Morgan drives back home to his suburban residence. The cinematography puts emphasis on the uniform sterility of his neighborhood to justify why he would want to seek out a more exciting existence as a corporate spy.
92	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Morgan Sullivan is actually Sebastian Rooks.]]
93	* TookALevelInBadass: Justified. Morgan Sullivan starts out the movie as a timid, henpecked house husband who's looking to make his life a bit more interesting by becoming a corporate spy. By the end of the movie he's sat through an intensive brainwashing session without batting an [[EyeScream eyelid]], [[ElevatorEscape escaped]] from an ultra-high security data centre and blown up a small army of {{Mooks}}. [[spoiler: Subverted in the sense that he's been a badass all along and didn't know it.]]
94	* TropicalEpilogue: The ending scene features the protagonist and his love interest spending time together on a sailboat in some tropical location.
95	* TwistEnding
96	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: An interesting variant - given the opportunity to create an entirely new personality from scratch, the meek and awkward Morgan Sullivan creates the persona of Jack Thursby[[spoiler:, who is inadvertently similar to the ruthless and sophisticated Sebastian Rooks.]]
97	* XanatosSpeedChess: [[spoiler: Rooks's plan adapts with the varying state of the two rivalling GambitRoulette-playing technology firms and Morgan's mind. Although to be exact, it's more that the unknowing Rooks/Sullivan has his plan adapted for him by Rita, whom he's no doubt briefed on what the likely outcomes of various events will be and what do do if and when they happen]].
98	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: People keep warning the protagonist that his current employer will do this to him. Then when he decides to betray that employer and work with the one who warned him about it, someone else warns him that his new employers will do the same. [[spoiler:Doesn't actually happen to him, but it does happen with Finster and Callaway and their {{Mooks}} who, after being used to help retrieve the MacGuffin, are blown up by Rooks as he makes his escape]].

Context Film / Cypher