Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2014 German cyber-crime thriller
film called, Who Am I. Spoiler’s ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The movie begins with Benjamin wishing that he becomes invisible again,
for he is now the world's most wanted hacker. As he enters a hotel room, Benjamin immediately
sees dead bodies all across the room. Following Benjamin's questioning with
the detective he desires, the narrative swerves to the present. It is only when the detective
presses him on what he plans to confess that Benjamin begins telling her the narrative.
Benjamin explains that he is an invisible loner. He tells the detective that he never had the
chance to meet his father, and that his mother killed herself when he was eight. Furthermore,
Benjamin talks about his similarities with his beloved grandmother, who also never met
her father, and that the only thing left in her father's memory are three shell casings
from World War II. Because of this, Benjamin's grandmother is the only one that took care of him.
When the detective tells Benjamin to jump immediately to his connection with the
wanted hackers, Benjamin tells the detective that every detail is essential in the story.
He then continues to tell her that hacking is one of the activities that
made him think he is good at something. Like other hackers, Benjamin frequents
the Dark Net. To stay awake, he uses Ritalin so that he will remain active during the day,
a tip that he had taken from his favorite hacker, nicknamed Idol. He also quotes Idol's main tenets:
no system is safe, aim for the impossible, and have fun in virtual and real worlds.
Momentarily, Benjamin delivers a pizza to a university library.
There, he sees his former classmate and crush, nicknamed Beauty, studying with her friends. As
he approaches with the pizza box in hand, the classmate tries not to pay Benjamin, but Beauty
insists on giving the payment. After learning that Beauty is struggling with the exam, Benjamin plans
to steal the answers sheet of the university exam. At first, Benjamin quickly infiltrates the
university and manages to get the answers. But he ends up getting caught in the act.
In essence, Benjamin meets a charismatic man while cleaning the city. The man, nicknamed Leader,
interviews him immediately about what he is doing in his life, but Benjamin initially
stays silent. After Leader delivers an accurate assessment of Benjamin's status of being a loner,
Benjamin tells him that he can read machine language. Upon hearing this,
Leader invites him to a party later that night. This time, Benjamin arrives at a house full of
wasted strangers. Leader quickly takes him upstairs to meet with his other friends:
the wild software master and the cautious hardware freak. The two want Benjamin to prove that he can
read machine language, and Benjamin demonstrates this by turning off the neighborhood's lights.
Police officers soon arrive, and as they are leaving, Benjamin sees Beauty in the crowd
and grabs her by the hand. They manage to escape, and Beauty finally recognizes
Benjamin as her former classmate. But the night is not all delights,
as Benjamin arrives home, only to find that his grandmother is not around. Benjamin later
sees her in the street, but he realizes that his grandmother needs other people to care for her.
Benjamin narrates that his grandmother is unfortunately diagnosed with amnesia.
On the otherhand, Leader bumps into Benjamin on the train. Noticing something odd with
Benjamin's demeanor, Leader invites him to walk out of there, and Benjamin follows suit.
Walking outside, Benjamin learns that Leader also knows about Idol. Leader then tells Benjamin that
he is studying social engineering to understand how to manipulate people.
Leader adds that people are easily exploitable because they trust and do not want conflict.
Leader demonstrates this by demanding a few donuts that he did not buy at all.
Afterward, they head to a parking lot where they steal a van. They drive to a meeting place of
far-right extremists, and Benjamin is given a job with the software master. The plan is
they will infiltrate the place, and Benjamin will hijack the meeting's laptop. Benjamin manages to
do this by pretending to fix the microphone right beside the laptop. Benjamin and the
software master then return to their stolen van to watch the mayhem unfold. The extremists quickly
circle in on the van, but the group manages to drive away before things get worse for them.
Back to the present, the detective wants to make sure that Benjamin is telling the truth;
and Benjamin demonstrates that he is trustworthy by revealing all of the detective's information.
Back to the interrogation, Benjamin narrates that he has turned his grandmother's home into
the group's headquarters. After the success of the recent prank, Leader wants to have a group name
formally. At first, the hardware freak advises them that it will be troubling to have a name,
but the group thinks otherwise. Benjamin suggests they should be named CLAY,
short for "clowns laughing at you." As a result, we watch the group's pranks
being carried out in a montage. Soon, the group accumulates notoriety through
the videos of their pranks on social media. Meanwhile, the group buys groceries when they
encounter Beauty. Leader pushes Benjamin to talk to her, but Benjamin cannot even
hold a proper conversation. As such, Leader demonstrates to Benjamin how to speak to her.
Afterward, Benjamin narrates that Leader wants to get the attention of Idol,
but Idol dismisses the CLAY. As such, Leader deems themselves as losers. It is around this
time that the detective enters the story. The detective wants to arrest and convict the people,
that are hiding behind the name of the Russian Mafia-tied "Friends." So far, the detective
only knows about the three prominent hackers of the group, but they are still trying to figure
out the identity of one of the other hacker. On the contrary, Leader winning a sports car
from a radio contest by tampering with their phone lines. At first, the hardware freak is hesitant to
get inside the car because he believes it will just grab attention. But after being urged,
the hardware freak gets in and even drives the car. The group picks up three ladies in
the street during their high-speed driving. They then continue their fun inside their headquarters,
drinking booze and inhaling illegal substances. After a while, Benjamin heads towards Beauty's
location because he is inspired by Leader's speech about being whatever he wants to be.
Benjamin signals at his crush while inside the sports car, and Beauty quickly enters the vehicle.
Benjamin learns that Beauty deliberately fails her test so that her life choices will not be closed.
Benjamin decides to take this chance to kiss Beauty, which he successfully does.
However, Beauty is not pleased with his smelly tongue massage, so she immediately gets out of
the car. The following day, the group receives a message from their Idol. Instead of something
positive, the group receives a copy of the detective's letter, which denounces their
group as a non-threat. This behavior angers Leader because Idol thinks of them as harmless babies,
making him want to pull off an even more incredible stunt. To show off their skills,
Benjamin suggests that they hack the impenetrable BND, Germany's version of the CIA.
First, the group has to establish contact with BND's server, which they manage to
do by dumpster diving for BND's address. After finding this address, they establish a phishing
link that will enable them to get inside BND's server when clicked by an employee of BND.
The group has to access the primary server inside the building physically.
Through the unwitting employee, the group manages to obtain cards to enable them to enter
the building. The plan then is set in motion. The software master handles the CCTV footage;
the hardware freak handles the building's lights, and Leader holds the facilities'
password. Benjamin will be the one to hack the central server. They plan to put fax messages
that CLAY manages to get inside their building and server. Everything goes smoothly and swiftly, but
Benjamin decides to overextend his stay. Luckily, the group escapes without arousing any chaos.
The group celebrates their achievement by partying in the club. With the group's support,
Benjamin briefly dances with Beauty before going to the comfort room. After taking some illegal
substances, Benjamin gets the shock of his life when he sees Leader kissing the girl he loves.
Benjamin goes home immediately, angry from his supposed friend's betrayal.
Leader berates him from outside the house, telling Benjamin that he is nothing without them.
Because of that, Benjamin decides to do something not part of the plan.
Benjamin later overstays in the BND's central server for its data.
He decides to give this data to Idol as a gift. The following day, the group watches the news
about the murder of a hacker from Russian Mafia Friends. The news reveals that the dead hacker
works for BND as an undercover agent. The group then realizes that since Benjamin gave
the hacked data to Idol, Idol is now treated as a member related to the Russian Mafia. This also
means that CLAY is directly entangled with these organizations, putting the group in a dead spot.
Because of the heavy pressure, the software master surprisingly attempts to leave the group,
considering that he's the wild one. Benjamin then suggests that he will find and reveal his Idol's
identity to the police, something which the group agrees upon. They then hear a knock on the door.
Upon opening the door, Benjamin sees Beauty, who immediately asks him why he disappeared
so suddenly last night. Because he is still angry with what happened last night, Benjamin
tells her off and proceeds to shut the door immediately for fear of being under surveillance.
Because they need to find Idol but that they cannot use their computers, the group has
to settle for public network computers in the library. Despite these measures, BND is still
able to trace its location quickly. While the BND is on their way, Benjamin communicates with Idol
about the prospect of joining Friends. Idol then gives them a job, and the group manages to get it
as soon as the police arrive in the building. The group then splits up. Benjamin, wearing a mask,
has a close encounter with the detective. Luckily, he successfully manages to evade her.
Back to the present, Benjamin reveals that Idol wants CLAY to infiltrate the law enforcement
agency Europol using a "Trojan horse," a malicious code that will take control of a
computer. He explains that his Idol wants to take control of the investigation conducted by Europol,
while CLAY secretly wants to identify Idol so that they will be free from trouble.
Their secret plan is to put another Trojan horse inside the Trojan horse.
Before going to Europol, the group melts their hard drives in acid to leave no trace.
While doing this, Leader apologizes to Benjamin, admitting that he is not even good at hacking.
Benjamin replies that he knows about it all along. Before finally leaving,
the group decides to burn their headquarters. Upon arriving at Europol, the group immediately
realizes that infiltrating the coveted building is difficult.
The group tries their old methods of infiltration but to no avail.
They even try to access the building via its sewage system, but it is impenetrable.
With no foreseeable chance of entering, the group loses morale. Benjamin, however,
sees a ray of hope when he spots a visitor's ID in the ground. Figuring that it is all his
fault in the first place, Benjamin decides to infiltrate the building on his own.
Wearing the visitor's ID, Benjamin goes to the gate of the building and tells the guard that he
wants to recover his wallet in the canteen or else his father will beat him up. At first, the guard
does not let him inside, prompting Benjamin to act miserably. Seeing this, the guard changes his
mind out of pity and allows Benjamin inside for two minutes. For Benjamin, these two minutes are
enough, as he quickly installs a second network that will outsmart the main network of Europol.
From a café, Benjamin manages to access a Europol employee's computer. With this,
he meets up with Idol in the Dark Net, where all Benjamin has to do is give the Trojan horse to his
Idol to identify him. But Idol is already one step ahead of him, as he already sees through his plan.
Instead of Idol's identity being revealed, Benjamin's face is revealed through his webcam.
Immediately, two Russians enter the café to eliminate Benjamin, forcing Benjamin to leave
the scene quickly. After being chased down to a subway, Benjamin evades the assassins.
We are then back to the first part of the movie, where Benjamin sees his friends'
dead bodies in their hotel room. All that is left there are three cartridges on the floor.
After hearing Benjamin's story, the detective immediately calls for her associate.
As Benjamin recalls his previous meeting with his infatuation, where they kissed after expressing
their intention to flee the country, he smiles. The detective returns to the room,
telling Benjamin that she knows about Benjamin's plan of availing the witness protection program.
Benjamin tells her to reveal Idol's identity and location through his help.
The detective discusses this with her associate, who quickly tells her not to trust Benjamin.
The detective, however, is willing to place her trust in Benjamin.
Benjamin then helps them catch Idol by posing as "him."
By doing this, he spreads information about Idol being a traitorous hacker.
In order to protect his honor, Idol must utilize an IP transmitter and a "hammer"
to announce his position and identity. In the end, Idol was captured.
However, there are still holes in Benjamin's story. As such, the detective goes to Benjamin's
house, where all things are, in fact, still intact. Next, she asks Beauty about Benjamin,
who answers that she had not talked to him since they were classmates. As a final precaution,
the detective asks Benjamin's doctor about his mother's condition, finding out that Benjamin's
mother had a multiple personality disorder and that there is a possibility that it is hereditary.
The agent tells the detective that the cartridges are from World War II, but the detective is well
aware of this. The detective then confronts Benjamin, telling him that everything that
happened is all in his head; the group CLAY is all just him. Benjamin breaks down with this
information, as he does not want to be like his mother. Because he has a mental illness, he is
disqualified from the witness protection program. As the detective carries Benjamin to the court,
the detective takes her instead to a room. There, she tells Benjamin that he can erase
all of his information so that he can be invisible again, with the promise that
he will not do hacking anymore. After doing this, the detective parts ways with Benjamin.
The movie ends with Benjamin standing on a ship. Alongside him are Beauty and the members of
CLAY. In another twist of events, it is revealed that the group, with the addition of his crush,
devise a plan to make it look as if Benjamin has a mental health condition and that they have to
manipulate the detective without her knowledge. Benjamin is telling the group that the detective
will eventually know about what he has done but that she's as happy just the same before.