Tina Kakadelis
A subgenre of films has emerged where all the action takes place within the confines of a computer screen. It’s like a technological chamber piece. Searching and Missing are perhaps the two most popular examples of this emerging style of filmmaking. At the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival, another movie has entered the mix: LifeHack. The film is the feature debut for director Ronan Corrigan (who shares a screenwriting co-credit) and screenwriter Hope Elliott Kemp, but you won’t be able to tell because LifeHack is thrilling. It’s a cyber heist that makes the most of the freedom the computer screen offers both the creative team and the characters in the film.
The friendship between Kyle (Georgie Farmer), Alex (Yasmin Finney), Petey (James Scholz), and Sid (Roman Hayeck-Green) exists exclusively online. Kyle and Petey’s friendship is the longest, with Alex and Sid joining the group through Discord servers and online games. Despite the fact that they’re spread across the world, the friends spend hours every day on a Discord video call and are closer than many who know each other in person. As they’ve gotten older, they still play video games, but they’ve also gotten involved with hacking and cryptocurrency. The four of them, with Kyle leading the charge, hatch a plan to rob tech mogul Don Heard (Charlie Creed-Miles) of his entire crypto wallet.
With films like Searching and Missing, the confines of the computer can feel gimmicky. Each of those films gives us enough to believe the story can play out entirely on a laptop screen, but there’s something missing. Yes, they could take place with the computer playing such an integral role, but they don’t have to be told in this style. Conversely, LifeHack must be told in this format. It’s easy to believe that each of these kids lives and breathes computers. They’re in their late teens, they grew up with a smartphone permanently attached to their hand. Of course most of their friendships are happening in this digital space. LifeHack’s computer screen never has to justify itself, nor should it. We all know people who are essentially made of binary code and can find their way around the internet better than their hometown. For better or for worse, LifeHack is a movie for them.
Onto the heist of it all. Cryptocurrency is untraceable, and if it gets stolen there’s no governing body that can help recover it. That makes it the perfect crime. LifeHack is the internet’s Ocean’s 11. Sleek and stylish, yet confined to an unmoving screen. The way Corrigan has made the movie feel is flat-out impressive. The camera cuts to various open applications to create a sense of motion in what should be an incredibly stagnant film. The audience doesn’t ever leave Kyle’s computer, and we don’t need to. Pieces of each teen’s personal life peek through in the background, showing the parental struggles and expectations that weigh on all of them. As with all good heist teams, they want the money so they can have a little fun, but they also want the money to be able to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
LifeHack, beyond the genuinely thrilling heist, is a deeply special ode to relationships that exist exclusively online. Friendships that are formed in this way are generally looked upon as lesser, as though a true relationship can’t be cultivated through webcams. Sure, in an ideal world you’d be able to visit in person and spend time together, but these are teenagers with no disposable income, and certainly no money that will let them travel internationally. Their connection is genuine, and the chemistry among the four does make the audience feel like they’re just eavesdropping on these kids. Even the little hints of romance that sparkle between Kyle and Alex feel sincere in the awkward, dopey way teenagers tend to flirt. Their dynamic, from that first scene, pulls the audience in and invites them into Rat Pack for an hour and a half.
If you think you’ve seen the best of what the computer thriller has to offer, LifeHack will prove you wrong. Corrigan and Kemp offer a bold voice in the genre and open up a whole new world for computer screens and the medium of film. A white-knuckle thriller that doesn’t leave the gaming chair, LifeHack deserves to be seen on the big screen. If nothing else, it will convince you to change your passwords.
