From Tiller Russell, who Netflix audiences may know from his recent, outstanding documentary series Night Stalker: The Hunt For A Serial Killer on the streamer, comes a dramatic feature telling the story of the Silk Road, the former online marketplace where users were able to buy anything – mostly drugs – anonymously. The film tells the story of the man behind the operation, Ross Ulbricht, and follows him from the websites conception to its downfall.
The film opens to familiar territory – what we will learn will the ending of the movie – and out main protagonist Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) looks like he’s about to be apprehended by the FBI in a big bust in a public area. Robinson’s voicemail plots the film for us over the soundtrack and then we’re transported back a few years to a time before Ulbricht’s baby, the infamous Silk Road – an anonymous online drug marketplace where users can buy a hit or two with Bitcoin – is a thing. Cut across the country to Jason Clarke’s Rick Bowden, who has just got out of rehab with nine months left on the job before he can draw on his full DEA pension. Returning to the job, he is bumped across to cybercrime to see out his time, but is seen by his new, very young twenty-something bosses as a bit of a dinosaur with his archaic investigation methods. The film charts both men as Ulbricht’s Silk Road grows and Bowden gradually closes in on him.
In a nutshell, that’s the movie, but there’s a lot more going on with some unexpected turns along the way, the narrative moving at a breezy, pace which sadly sees the proceedings spread a little thin with a distinct lack of depth. Both Robinson and Clarke do the best with what they’re given, but sadly there’s not much development with each of their characters. The script seems laden with genre clichés and narrative points that will be familiar, which is shame as this is quite an interesting story that is trying to be told. Russell is a remarkable filmmaker, and having caught two of his films on Netflix recently; ‘Night Stalker’ and the earlier work Operation Odessa, which is a brilliantly-told story with some very interesting real-life characters involved, I was intrigued in seeing what he could do with a dramatic feature. Sadly, this does fall way short of those two brilliant pieces of work.
Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya and Richard Jewell) is probably the stand-out as ‘underboss’ Curtis Clark Green, and his appearances with Clarke are the most memorable. There’s also a turn from Darrell Britt-Gibson who is great support as Rayford, an informant to Bowden who also has great chemistry with Clarke in their frequent scenes together.
It’s a film that is an easy watch and its subject matter does drawn you into proceedings, so you’ll probably see it through to the end, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the true story. Sadly though, possibly a lot due to my previous anticipation, I ended up being a little disappointed.
Silk Road
Summary
A solid cast, but sadly a disappointing telling of the formation and ultimate downfall of one of the Dark Web’s most infamous illegal marketplaces.
Silk Road is on digital platforms 22 March from Vertigo Releasing.
