The Takeover is a Dutch-language action thriller film directed by Annemarie van de Mond and released on Netflix on November 1st, 2022. The film tells the story of a hacker named Mel Bandison, who is hunted down by those who want her dead after she places a virus in a server to reveal the corrupt practices of a company. Along with a man she just met, she must find a way to evade and stop the criminal gang’s operation.
The movie’s main character, Mel Bandison, is a former hacker who now works for Rotramax, a transportation company based on computer technology. She is tasked with performing a final examination on the system before the launch of a driverless smart bus, where she discovers unusual code that appears to be a hacking attempt by another party. Mel saves the server’s main system by adding a trojan virus that she believes will protect it.
However, this decision puts her life in danger, and she has to escape from two men who broke into her house. She seeks help from the police, but Detective Dries responds coldly to her complaint. Seeing the two men who are chasing her even at the police station, Mel runs away again. She heads to Thomas Dean’s store, a man she had a date with the night before.
While there, Mel contacts two of her hacker friends, Jay and Yu, but the two men who are chasing her shoot them from outside. With no place to take refuge, she joins hands with Thomas and runs with him. Rogers, a man who phones Thomas and demands Mel to restore the computer system with another virus they place in the Rotramax server, is the one who threatens them.
Mel intends to use a back door she knows to access the database while Rogers is holding her to change the server’s control to Rotramax, but Rogers anticipates her move as planned. In his company, she cannot hack the system because Rogers is watching her every move. When Mel gets enraged at Rogers, Thomas arrives with the police, and they arrest Rogers.
However, the problems are not over yet. A driverless smart bus runs amok on the road, posing a significant risk to lives. The whole world panics while Mel takes action to stop the calamity by hacking into the bus’s computer system.
The movie entangles the audience in the dynamic plot full of suspense, action, and thrills. Despite the ordinary storyline, a few interesting twists make the film worth a watch.
In conclusion, The Takeover is a thrilling action movie illustrating the consequences of corrupt practices in big companies, the consequences of failing to act ethically, and the quest for justice. The movie successfully depicts the amalgamation of technology, action, and suspense, which ensures an excellent experience for the audience.
