WATCHING me stand in line at the grocery checkout line cannot be very exciting. The most someone would see is me arranging my items on the conveyor belt according to description, such as frozen or produce. Only other thing one could witness is me holding coupons in my hand. I have no issue with any of the security cameras throughout the store. In fact I do not even pay attention to any of the cameras that have been installed in public places. The thing that freaks me out is on a personal level. For example I was online looking for a small shelving unit; I went to 2 or 3 different sites without finding anything suitable. Would you believe the very next time I checked into one of my social media accounts, right there on the welcome page, was an advertisement for shelving units? How did the site know I was looking for shelving units?! This made me uncomfortable as if I was being watched in my very own home.     AS the world becomes more tech savvy I feel like I am turning into a dinosaur. I do not know if it some kind of paranoia on my part, but I have always been a private person. Keeping the window shades pulled down in the house is preferable than having pedestrians walking by out front peering in; not that there is anything going on, I just do not want people looking into my space. There was a news article about these new talking assistant devices for the home being hacked, so someone can listen to the conversations taking place in the house and sometimes respond to them without being asked. Am I the only one who finds that disturbing? It has come to the point if I do not know the origin of an email I will delete it. At my office anything that comes in unfamiliar to me I have sent to our MIS department to investigate; I just do not want to take a chance on my computer becoming infected with a virus. Sitting through this dramatic thriller made me uncomfortable for more than one reason.     WITH the help of a friend Mae, played by Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter franchise), got a job interview with a premier high tech company. This job would offer a big change in her life, but at what cost? This film also starred Tom Hanks (Sully, Bridge of Spies) as Bailey, Bill Paxton (Titanic, Apollo 13) in one of his final roles as Vinnie and John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Attack the Block) as Ty. As the story started out I wondered if this movie was a satire about a current popular tech company; there seemed to be several similarities. I felt the idea was sound, but the script was poorly done and amateurish to the point where I was periodically bored. There were some good scenes but there were times where a scene did not make any sense. For example the character of Ty was odd right from the start and it was obvious why he was in the story. I liked Emma’s acting and felt she tried her best, but hearing some of the words coming out of her mouth just made me cringe. If the writers were hoping to scare the audience with the subject matter, they missed their mark; this could have been a better movie if everyone involved was watching what they were doing.

1 ¾ stars