Rete mortale

A movie about the many people you can chat to over the internet and never really know who they are.

As the title suggests this is a movie involving the internet, the love affair that occurs, and a dark and sinister truth.

When Karin Miebach disappears without trace, her younger sister Sonja takes it upon herself to find the truth about her sister's disappearance.

Her only lead been that Karin had started a relationship with a man she met over the internet, and only briefly been informed of the wonders of the net, the night before Karin disappeared.

With the help of her friend and computer expert Josef, Sonja begins her own relationship with 'The Club' including an initiative striptease. It is not long before Sonia has a list of people, 5 men and 1 woman who her sister spoke to the night she disappeared.

Armed with a list of suspects, and a new lead that her sister left with a man in a dark car, Sonja now tries to find out more about these people by meeting them in person. By mentally crossing names off her list Sonia is able to narrow the list down to two possible suspects : Max, a computer programmer, with the knowhow and power to alter certain data.

And Tilman, a respectable bank manager, who lives with his wife and twin daughters. However the relationship between husband and wife is a little rocky and in Tilman's words "Marriage can turn a woman into a Sergent-Major." (Although at first one would think otherwise).

After meeting with Tilman in a restaurant, an attempt is made on Sonja's life, leading her to believe that the someone knows she's onto them.

Later Sonja meets up with Tilman again and another attempt is made on her life, this time by trapping her in a sauna. At first it appears that it was Tilman who locked her in there but as it is also Tilman who opens the door and rescues her, the possibility that a third person is involved becomes apparent.

Returning to her other suspect, Sonja now tries to find out more about Max, which includes entering his apartment, where on a computer screen she sees an image of a man and a woman engrossed in sexual activities, shortly before the man strangles the woman. Sonja believes this to be Max and Karin, however as both are wearing bags over their heads this cannot be certain. While Sonja reflects on this Max returns to find Sonja in his apartment, believing she is been confronted by her sister's killer Sonja flees, momentarily bumping into Max's dark car which furthers her suspicions.

Up to this point Josef has been keeping an eye out for Sonja, however on their last, meeting they departed on bad terms. Returning to make amends Josef arrives with a gift for Sonja (A giant Winnie the Pooh toy) but finds she is out. Unfortunately Josef is then killed in an attempt that was meant for Sonja, now leaving Sonja alone on the case.

After learning that Josef is dead Sonja now turns to the only other person she feels she can trust: Tilman.

Tilman agrees to help an takes Sonja to his country cottage where she believes she is safe, but perhaps the real killer is closer than she thinks....

Like many mysteries this story has a surprise twist as well displaying an important message that you will learn who your real friends are when a true friend is needed.

Nifty if a little nasty TV thriller about a young woman, Sonia (Katja Woywood) searching for the truth about her older sister's disappearance. Sis has been satisfying herself sexually via the Internet, it seems, but her on-line activities have attracted the attention of a real-time killer. Sonia enlists the aid of a young programmer Josef (Benjamin Sadler) and they investigate the members of a secret online chat group, who it seems Sis had joined. Bank manager Tilmann (Peter Sattmann, a stalwart of German TV), he with the Sergeant -Major of a wife (Katja Riemann), appears to be a prime suspect, but a visit to his country cottage proves that all is not what it seems.

Shot in and around Berlin, this is a reasonably clever and fast-moving thriller, but the end is just a collection of horror-movie tricks. On the basis of this one, German TV thrillers are much like the US model, but there's nice use of gloomy locations such as the holiday cottage out of season, contrasted with the frenetic energy of Berlin itself. I think the web designers need some help though - the `Inside Berlin' page is pretty unattractive. The original title Verführt - Eine gefährliche Affäre does not of itself refer to the Internet but the English title (`A Fatal Online Affair') suggests that the Internet is more central to the plot than it actually is. The same plot could easily be wrought using newspaper personal ads - the Internet bit is just an update on the perils of blind dates.

`Enemy of the State' with Will Smith, on the other hand was a nice demonstration of what can be done to us through communications technology.