What is it about cyber thrillers that makes for such gripping watches? A good cyber thriller blends the best elements of various genres, from noir and sci-fi to espionage, to craft a fast-paced, thrilling experience that constantly has you wondering about what’s going on and who will make it out alive. Of course, it’s action-packed, but it’s also thought-provoking, and even a little scary at times, as the one element these movies have in common is technology. The digital world is even more important than reality in cyber thrillers – at times, it becomes reality itself. And tech can be what saves the day, but also the source of new threats.
What makes it all more terrifying, of course, is that tech has been taking over our real lives too, and we’re not just talking of computer viruses. Think of all the times you’ve had to check the Telegram app because your account got hacked, or of all the data protection issues on the internet and social media. From malware and phishing to all sorts of phone and computer scams, there is a darker side to technology, and it’s only natural that we’d look for movies where this digital threat is defeated.
If you’re looking for some cyber thrillers to watch, we have you covered! Here are 5 exciting, enthralling movies where a virus causes chaos! Find the list below in no particular order, and enjoy!
1. The Matrix Movies (1999-2021)
Lilly & Lana Wachowski
Let’s start with the obvious choice. Lilly and Lana Wachowski created a subgenre when they released their 1999 cult classic, which forever changed our idea of what a sci-fi thriller should look like. The Matrix was one of the first movies to combine elements of sci-fi and martial arts with gritty realism, making for the very definition of a cyber thriller: a film that tells us about a fantastical world, but where the stakes are so high that it all feels one hundred percent real.
The Matrix is about an ordinary young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves) who one day realizes his computer was hacked. Suddenly, messages start appearing on the screen, all leading to a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss). Soon, Neo’s world is turned inside out when the two meet, and Neo is awoken. Because it turns out that the life that Neo thought was living – which looks eerily similar to our own world – was a simulation, created by machines who have been growing humans only to keep them asleep and feeding on them. Trinity leads Neo to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who reveals that our young protagonist is supposed to be “The One”: someone that prophecies predict will save them all.
So how does a virus cause chaos in The Matrix? If you’re familiar with the franchise, you already know the answer. Neo’s main adversaries in the Matrix movies – at least in the original trilogy – are the “agents”, a team of suited individuals who are meant to protect the computer-generated world of the Matrix. Yet there’s one agent, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), whose repeated interactions with Neo eventually enable him to grow from a simple security software to an actual virus with the ability to replicate and even rewrite other programs. Smith’s famous speech in the first film – “Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You’re a Plague, and we are the cure” – embodies the very essence of a virus, and his presence makes the entire trilogy even more fascinating and frighteningly real.
2. Hackers (1995)
Iain Softley
Here’s another cult movie – this time, for those who love classic paranoid cyber thrillers. The film revolves around the titular hackers, led by Dade “Zero Cool” Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller). When Dade was 11 years old, he somehow managed to crash 1,500 Wall Street computers, which led to a ban from owning computers and operating technology until the day he’d turn 18. Seven years later, the ban is lifted and Dade joins a group of hackers at his school: Ramon “The Phantom Phreak” Sanchez (Renoly Santiago), Emmanuel “Cereal Killer” Goldstein (Matthew Lillard), Paul “Lord Nikon” Cook (Laurence Mason), Kate “Acid Burn” Libby (Angelina Jolie), and newbie Joey Pardella (Jesse Bradford).
To prove his worth, Joey breaks into a known corporation’s supercomputer and downloads a random file which just-so-happens to be a malicious virus that a former hacker-turned company employee, Eugene “The Plague” Belford, had inserted into his workplace to streal from them. The two hackers’ actions, together, spark a chain reaction that even leads to the US Secret Service’s involvement, and ultimately puts “Zero Cool” back into the spotlight. Our well-meaning hacker’s life is thrown into chaos by a virus that he neither planted nor recovered, but it’s still up to him to save the day.
Hackers has undoubtedly aged since its 1995 release, yet it wears its 90s influences on its sleeve, and that’s what still makes it so appealing. It also has an all-star cast, including Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie at the start of their careers.
3. Swordfish (2001)
Dominic Sena
Here’s another film about a hacker – only, this time, it’s a convicted hacker who’s conflicted about whose side to be on. In Swordfish, Stanley (Hugh Jackman) is enlisted by a man named Gabriel (John Travolta), the head of a covert counter-terrorist unit, who asks him for help finding money to fight terrorists. Needless to say, Stanley discovers that Gabriel’s motives are not what he says they are, as he’s actually out for revenge, and that helping him would be immoral. But Gabriel is also the key to Stanley getting out and seeing his daughter Holly (Camryn Grimes) again, which makes it all more complicated.
Where is the virus, you ask? Without giving too much away, a trojan horse virus plays a big role in the movie, and it is absolutely an agent of chaos – though, this time, perhaps it’s for the right reasons. Swordfish’s plot is very straightforward, and if one really stops to think about it, it doesn’t even make complete sense, logistically speaking. Yet the film still has a cult following due to how action-packed it all is, on top of a fantastic cast that also includes Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, and Vinnie Jones. If you just want to have a good time, you’ll have fun with it!
4. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Mamoru Oshii
You might have seen the 2017 remake, but if you’re not familiar with the 1995 animated movie that inspired it, you should absolutely give it a watch. In Mamoru Oshii’s 2029-set Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai), a “Puppet Master” (Abe Lasser) has developed the ability of illegally hacking into not computer, but into actual beings. Those beings are cyborg-human hybrids, to be precise: humans that have improved their bodies with cybernetic parts. And if you’re thinking those parts would be arms and legs, you’d be wrong, as in Mamoru Oshii’s world, cyber brains are a thing too. This means that humans can now have not just an improved body (the “shell”), but also computerized minds, equipped with a consciousness (the “ghost”) that inhabits it.
The “ghost” can be hacked, which is where our virus enters the scene, causing plenty of chaos: it turns out that these computerized minds are the Puppet Master’s perfect target. But a cyborg federal agent, Maj. Motoko Kusanagi (Mimi Woods), is chasing our hacker, and the closer she gets, the more she starts questioning her own identity.
Unlike most of the entries on this list, Ghost in the Shell is a highly philosophical film. Of course, it’s still a neo-noir cyber thriller, with gorgeous animation and plenty of action and intrigue, but it is also ultimately about the nature of humanity itself. If you’ve never seen it, you’re in for a real treat.
5. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One (2024)
Christopher McQuarrie
Let’s end our list with a recent release, and one that couldn’t be more relevant, given that its sequel – the final film in the Mission: Impossible franchise – is about to have its World Premiere in Cannes. In Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One, the virus is a sentient AI that has evolved on its own and gone rogue, causing so much chaos that every government in the world is trying to get their hands on it. The reason has to do with what “The Entity” can do, which includes not only infiltrating systems and software, but also controlling information and even altering the truth as everyone knows it. Of course, the IMF is looking for it too, and this is where our favorite agents, led by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), make an appearance.
It’s best to leave it at that, as part of what makes Dead Reckoning so gripping is watching it unfold and enter completely unpredictable territory. But if you’re a fan of the franchise, you’ll find plenty of nostalgia as well, on top of the impressive, breathtaking stunts you’ve come to expect from these movies. Not to be missed!
There are plenty of cyber thrillers out there where a virus causes chaos, from classics like WarGames (1983) to more recent releases like Transcendence (2014), Blackhat (2015), Twenty Hacker (2021) and many more. The 5 films on this list explore various sides of technology to make for different watching experiences, and should be enough to get you started. Happy watching!
