Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma

Grade: C-

Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma opens with a methodically graphic torture sequence. A handful of people are having their ways with a guy strapped to a chair. I initially thought it was part of a movie within the movie, because the practical effects were so cheap. But no, it’s “real” in the world of the film. A narrator’s voice stops the action, and takes us back in time, for more context.

That voice belongs to writer/director Shane Brady, who also stars as a version of himself called Mark Rumble. We learn that in 2021, Brady and his wife Emily wired $20,000 as a down payment on a new house – they thought. They were duped, as it went to a hacker, and they found themselves out that 20K. The movie is a revenge fantasy about what he might like to do if he ever came face to face with the person who stole from them.

The hacker is known in the film as The Chameleon, played by Chandler Riggs from The Walking Dead (and more recently, Breakup Season). He is given a motive here. He was playing a video game online with the Rumbles’ two teenage sons, and he didn’t take too kindly to their trash-talking gaming behavior. The boys, Ralph and Freddy, have significant roles as they help find and take the Chameleon down. For some reason, Santa Claus becomes involved.

I can’t exactly say Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma is like nothing I’ve ever seen (as I’ve heard it described), but I’ve rarely seen anything like it, and I usually don’t enjoy anything like it when I do. You will definitely ask yourself “WTF am I watching?” I found it annoying, silly, ridiculous, and it really grated on my nerves. The acting is grotesquely over-the-top, and the fast-paced, frenetic filming style reminded me of an old Nickelodeon show like The Secret World of Alex Mack, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, or Salute Your Shorts. In other words, while this would get a hard R from the MPAA if it had a rating, it plays like a TV movie or show for kids, who obviously shouldn’t see this. It’s like the joke: “I saw a sign at the park that read (with printed words) ‘No dogs allowed, except for seeing eye dogs.’ Who is this sign for?”

The actors are, admittedly, very talented. They have enough energy to light up Tampa (where it was filmed, and takes place) for a few days. My favorite was Katelyn Nacon as a CIA Agent. I spent the whole film trying to put my finger on who Brady’s onscreen wife (Augie Duke) made me think of, and I finally thought of it: Katherine Waterston in last year’s Blumhouse thriller Afraid. Brady has fun. Riggs has fun. I did not. It never stops to breathe, or be sincere, with real moments. The closest it comes to it turns out to be a fakeout like what we recently saw in The Naked Gun. I always felt like I was at such an arm’s length away from these characters. It’s surprisingly unfunny, too. Bits that I would normally be laughing at somehow just fell flat.

We eventually circle back around to the torturing, which takes up most of the last half hour. Despite it not looking real, it did make me squirm. I don’t enjoy thinking about or seeing depictions of the acts done to The Chameleon, but the filmmakers seem to think we would find it funny. Though I really don’t recommend Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma, I do recommend Brady as a filmmaker. He obviously knows his way around a camera, and has the ability to make something interesting. I’ll keep an eye on what he does in the future, and I look forward to the day I get to say “I KNEW he had a good one in him!” Hacked sure as hell ain’t it.

Grade: C-