Smartphones Become Superpowers in Trailer for Maisie Williams’ Netflix Movie ‘iBoy’
The broad-strokes version of Netflix’s unfortunately titled new film iBoy — “mild-mannered nerd acquires unlikely superpowers, which he then uses to fight crime” — may sound like a take on a story we’ve already heard a dozen times. But could Spider-Man intercept text messages? Could Batman hack into secret computer servers using only his brain? Does Superman have a charming British accent? The answer to these questions is no, no, and no. All will be rectified, however, when the new action picture comes to Netflix on January 27.
Milquetoast teen Tom (Bill Milner, the young Magneto of X-Men: First Class) is an average sort of student, killing time idling on his computer when he’s not brooding over his crush on the cherub-faced Lucy (Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones fame). But when the two of them survive a savage attack from some members of a local technology-centric crime ring, Tom emerges a changed man. Some kind of tech-bullet pierces a crucial part of Tom’s brain, and he essentially gains all the skills and abilities of a smartphone inside his cranium.
While the ability to see phone calls and hear people using the internet from afar might not seem like the most bombastic power, Tom finds a way to use it in his quest to rid the city of cybercrime. Apparently, his newfound gifts enable him to remotely blow up a car? This trailer takes the bold approach of “lure them in with confusing and difficult-to-see footage,” perhaps in the hopes that the curiosity factor alone will draw a crowd, with the fact that 95% of the film appears to take place at night creating an aura of mystique. While iBoy will most likely not be Netflix’s darkest show, it could very well be the most dimly lit. Reel ‘em in, iBoy. Make ‘em squint for it.