Hacker Cinema
Cloak & Dagger
1984 · Film · 101 min
Directed by Richard Franklin
Davey Osborne is an average 11-year-old boy with an overactive imagination. He spends his days playing video games and pretending to be a spy with his imaginary father-figure, Jack Flack - a substitute for his real father, who is struggling with the recent death of Davey's mother. However, fantasy becomes reality for Davey after he witnesses the murder of an FBI agent, who in his dying breath, gives Davey a mysterious video game cartridge called Cloak & Dagger, which in actuality contains top-secret government information. With the help of his younger friend Kim, the tech savvy Morris, and even a little help from his fictional secret agent mentor, Davey must stay one step ahead of pursuers as he tries to survive a real-life game of espionage in the streets of San Antonio, Texas.
2 positivefrom 2 commenters
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2 comments on Hacker News
The difference is mostly in plausibility of tools and techniques. Other hacker movies let themselves get wildly ungrounded and metaphorical. Sneakers feels authentic, which I suppose also positions it as more of a spy thriller.
I'd also nominate Cloak & Dagger for the "hacker spy thriller" category, albeit it's driven by a child protagonist, which is both unique and highly implausible.
It's not a hacker film, but if you're looking for something in a similar style I recommend "Cloak & Dagger".