ARTISTIC VISION

Dark Rooms explores the relationship the protagonist has with digital technologies, and the relationships they permit her to have with others, but at its core, the film examines how our physical and digital identities (or realities) mirror, marry, and contrast one another, and how these similarities and dissimilarities allow us to forge meaningful relationships with ourselves and others.

Digital technologies have transformed the way we connect, communicate, and live. Social media has given us a window into the lives of complete strangers, and we continue to scroll, rapt by the vantage it offers. But, while networking platforms, computer games, and other services have made us more connected than ever before, they’ve also disconnected us, isolating us from the world unfolding just beyond our screens.

Protagonist and hacker, Sam Schumer, knows this better than anyone, and yet she, too, struggles to overcome it. For her, hacking or "ratting," as it’s known in this context, begins as a hobby, something born out of curiosity and loneliness. Later, it becomes a tool for connection and a means for Sam to help the people she’s come to care so much about.

While I had a limited working knowledge of hackers’ capabilities when I began this project, I had no idea how prevalent Remote Access Trojans (RATs) were, how easy they are to use, or that thousands of people really do “tune in” daily to watch strangers in this way.

Through some preliminary research, I came across an article from Ars Technica about the men (they didn’t mention women ratters, though some may exist) who do this. I was interested in their narrative, the motivations for ratting, and the psychological effects. Surely, I thought, some of these people would come to develop a relationship with (albeit, one-sided), or at least a fondness for, their victims.

What feelings of empathy might arise from such an intimate knowledge of a person’s life and where might these emotional attachments lead? These are some of the questions I explore in Dark Rooms, a techno-thriller and exploration of how we create real connection in our hyperconnected, digital age.

SYNOPSIS

A voyeur’s dream, Dark Rooms is real reality television—channels comprised of thousands of hacked camera feeds on the Dark Web.

SAM SCHUMER, a channel owner, broadcasts the un-IG-worthy moments of “Instacelebrity” VANESSA DARLING and her pharmacist husband TYSEN's lives, among others.

One of Sam’s subscribers, OLIVER, a cyber criminal who has partnered with Tysen to sell drugs on the Dark Web, takes a particular interest in the footage, and Sam’s motives. 

When Sam encounters CLAIRE, a local, her digital and physical worlds merge as she follows her desire to get to know the melancholy stranger off-screen. , her physical and digital realities merge in her desire to know more about the melancholy stranger from her screen.

Sam’s ex-step-brother and roommate, DANTE, convinces her to come out to celebrate his birthday one night, where she comes face-to-face with Claire only to learn that Dante has recently begun dating her.

Despite this knowledge, Sam can’t stay away. After hacking Claire's younger brother, BILLY, Sam intervenes during a suicide attempt, saving his life, and drawing Sam and Claire closer.

Suspecting Claire of cheating, Dante enlists Sam to hack her. While helping Claire prepare for a live storytelling event, she admits her feelings and the two share a passionate kiss. But Sam’s guilt gets in the way and Sam leaves. When she returns home, she learns Claire has broken up with Dante.

When an intruder breaks into Vanessa’s home one night Sam intervenes, sending her neighbor, CAMERON, a text from Vanessa’s phone to call the cops. But when Cameron shows up and a gun goes off out of view, it isn’t clear who was shot.

Sam investigates for herself and comes face to face with Vanessa, the distracted driver responsible for her mother’s death a year prior.

Dante waits at Sam’s computer, furious she had been spying on Claire from the beginning, which he learned after someone emailed him footage Sam captured.

As Sam struggles to explain herself, her computer is taken over. A new video, this time of Sam and Claire kissing, autoplays. Furious, Dante leaves as Sam realizes she's been hacked.

Worried for her safety, Sam confesses everything to Claire, who throws her out.

Dejected, Sam returns to the rooftop bar where she and Claire first spoke. Drunk and alone, Sam is confronted by Tysen, who admonishes her for her disturbing surveillance of his household.

Later, Sam is jumped by Tysen who thrusts an envelope of money at her. Confused, Sam barely has time to react as a parked car starts, and smashes into Tysen, braking before it collides with Sam. The driver (Oliver) gets out.  Acknowledging Tysen's betrayal and cooperation with the authorities, Oliver shoots Tysen and takes the money as Sam blacks out.

Weeks later, Sam apologizes to Claire after a live storytelling event. Claire accepts the apology, still grateful to Sam for saving her brother’s life.

The film ends with users’ comments beneath the video a man uploaded of Claire and Sam on Dark Rooms. A smiley face, something we’ve come to recognize from Oliver, tells us he’s still watching—as are we.

LOCATION

Urban and gritty. High-rises with windows looking out onto other windows, symbolic of the webcams Sam hacks and broadcasts to her audience.