Paranoia: 1.0 is a 2004 cyberpunk

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...

 science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 film written and directed by Jeff Renfroe and Marteinn Thorsson. The film is a Kafkaesque nightmare in which a young computer programmer is an unwitting guinea pig in a corporate experiment to test a new advertising scheme. The film stars Jeremy Sisto

Jeremy Sisto

Jeremy Merton Sisto is an American actor. Sisto has had recurring roles as Billy Chenowith on the HBO series Six Feet Under and Detective Cyrus Lupo on Law & Order on television and also starred in the films Jesus, Clueless and Thirteen.-Early life:Sisto was born in Grass Valley, California, the...

 and Deborah Unger and features Lance Henriksen

Lance Henriksen

Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....

, Eugene Byrd

Eugene Byrd

Eugene Byrd is an American actor.-Career:He has been in movies including Dead Man, Sleepers, 8 Mile, Lift and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, and has the leading role in Confess, for which he won the Break-Out Performance Award at the 2006 Method Fest Independent Film Festival...

, Bruce Payne

Bruce Payne

Bruce Martyn Payne is an award winning English character actor and producer and was a member of the 1980's Brit Pack. Although he is best known for his villainous roles, Bruce Payne has played characters across the spectrum...

 and Udo Kier

Udo Kier

Udo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...

.

Plot

When computer-programmer Simon J. (Jeremy Sisto) begins finding empty plain brown paper packages in his apartment, he goes to great length to try and secure his boundaries, but the packages keep appearing. Simon attempts to find out who is leaving the packages, and his investigation exposes him to his eccentric neighbors, an artificial intelligence robot head, a virtual reality sex-game, and the possibility of a corporate conspiracy. With security cameras watching him constantly, Simon begins to lose his grip on reality, and develops an inexplicable craving for Nature Fresh brand milk. Then murders start happening in the building. Simon eventually finds out that everyone else is receiving packages too but were keeping quiet. These people also got addicted to consuming other products like fresh juice and farm fresh meat. The courier-man friend tells Simon about a corporate experiment to ‘infuse’ Nanomites in to people's brains to make them addicted to certain products. He first dismisses it as a lie but eventually understands that's indeed what's happening.

Cast

• Jeremy Sisto
  Jeremy Sisto
  Jeremy Merton Sisto is an American actor. Sisto has had recurring roles as Billy Chenowith on the HBO series Six Feet Under and Detective Cyrus Lupo on Law & Order on television and also starred in the films Jesus, Clueless and Thirteen.-Early life:Sisto was born in Grass Valley, California, the...
  
   as Simon
• Udo Kier
  Udo Kier
  Udo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
  
   as Derrick
• Deborah Kara Unger
  Deborah Kara Unger
  Deborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
  
   as Trish
• Bruce Payne
  Bruce Payne
  Bruce Martyn Payne is an award winning English character actor and producer and was a member of the 1980's Brit Pack. Although he is best known for his villainous roles, Bruce Payne has played characters across the spectrum...
  
   as Neighbor
• Constantin Florescu as Tall Man
• Ana Maria Popa as Alice
• Matt Devlen as Cashier
• Lance Henriksen
  Lance Henriksen
  Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
  
   as Howard
• Eugene Byrd
  Eugene Byrd
  Eugene Byrd is an American actor.-Career:He has been in movies including Dead Man, Sleepers, 8 Mile, Lift and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, and has the leading role in Confess, for which he won the Break-Out Performance Award at the 2006 Method Fest Independent Film Festival...
  
   as Nile
• Emil Hostina as Landlord
• Constantin Cotimanis as Detective Polanski
• Sebastian Knapp as Detective Harris

• Udo Kier and Jeremy Sisto both voiced the robot head

Production

Paranoia 1.0 was an international co-production, and was shot entirely in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It premiered in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 under its original title (One Point O).

The programming code seen in the film is from Viralator 0.9.

Awards and honors

2004

Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 (Park City, Utah, USA)

Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic Category; Nominated: Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson.

Catalonian International Film Festival (Sitges, Spain)

Nominated Best Film; Recipients: Marteinn Thorsson, Jeff Renfroe.

Fant-Asia Film Festival (Montreal, Canada)

AQCC Award-Mention: Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson; Best International Film (Jury Prize): Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson; Most Ground-Breaking Film (Jury Prize): Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson.

2005

Edda Awards (Iceland)

Edda Award Category: Best Picture (nominated); Best Production Design: Eggert Ketilsson (nominated); Best Sound or Music: Bradley L. North, Byron Wilson, Ann Scibelli (nominated); Director of the Year: Marteinn Thorsson, Jeff Renfroe (nominated).

Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema (Spain)

Best Actress: Deborah Kara Unger; Best Film: Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson; Youth Jury Award (Best Feature Film): Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson.

2007

In 2007, the film was listed as one of the “Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time” by Snarkerati, a popular movie web-magazine.

External links

• One Point O (Paranoia 1.0) at Cyberpunk Review
• One Point O on Snarkerati's “Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time” list