Mr. Robot One Of The Greatest Techno Thriller Of Our Time

 The Fight Club meets The Matrix TV show starring Rami Malek

Mr. Robot was created by Sam Esmail and aired on USA Network lasting for four seasons running between 2015- 2019. The show revolves around Elliot Alderson played by Rami Malek who works as a cyber security engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night. He is recruited by Mr. Robot played by Christian Slater to join "fsociety" a group of hacker activists that aim to take down E-Corp, one of the biggest conglomerate in USA that offers banking services, sells electronics and even dabbles in the energy sector he aims to bring them to their knees by encrypting their data which would bring their company to a stand still. To create a revolutions by bringing down the biggest corporations is fsociety's goal. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? It's a lot more complex than that. 

Elliot Alderson's father passed away due to leukmia after a chemical leak at one of E-Corp's chemical plant and the corporation chose to bury it avoid bad PR. Adding more incentive to his attack on E-Corp. In addition to that he suffers from social anxiety and depression which are explored in the show through his hacking. 

Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson

                                 Second Person Narrative

In the show, Elliot often acknowledges us, the viewers and addresses us as his "friend". He transforms us from passive viewers to active participants engaging in the show by asking us questions like "Did you see that?" "Are you freaking out right now?"

Unlike in a traditional sense where characters break the forth wall acknowledging themselves part of a fictional world such as in Deadpool. In Mr, Robot Elliot looks to the viewers as a confidant, a friend to approach under distress. This allows to put ourselves and our active role as a part of the show. Similar to The Fight Club and House Of Cards this approach allows the creation of a more imitate relationship with the viewer.

                             Thrilling Single Take Shots

The episode titled "Eps3.4_runtime-error.r00” from season 3, contains one of the greatest shots in television during  2017. It is an episode that appears to have been shot in a single take with no cuts. This experience allows the viewers to witness  the seamlessness of experience between characters Elliot and Angela. It uses unsteady camera techniques to make the viewers feel as if they are a part of the chaos too. 

Although the episode may appear as if it was a single take, in fact it has 31 cuts that have been blended into the episode to make it appear as if it was a single take episode. This style of cinematography crafts the character through the action and gives viewers a real sense of thrill.

                                 Unique Narration Styles

"407 Proxy Authentication Required," in this episode showrunner, Sam Esmail presents the episode as a five act play and uses dramatic audio along with two adjacent sets. It is one of the most important episodes of the show as it adds more context to Elliot’s relationship with his father, which changes everything we know about Elliot’s past. It is rated as 9.9 on IMDB.

“Eps2.4m4ster-s1ave.aes” of season 2, Elliot Alderson wakes up as a character from a sitcom in the 90s. The episode was shot in the style of a family sitcom from 1990 and uses the classic “road trip gone wrong” plot, it includes laugh tracks and 90s type character zoom in.

The episode was a parody of 90s television.

Cinematography

The show has a unique style of cinematography filled with unusual shots that fall far away from conventional cinematography. It does not focus on the character alone in the show, but also focuses on their background. In a way that it seems more realistic conveying a message that these characters are real and are living in the real world.  

Karsten Runquist in his video essay “Mr. Robot: The Art of Framing” explains that the showrunner uses this technique because this is show that revolves around Elliot’s relationship with society and in such cases conventional cinematography would do no good and by this unique camera technique it adds more depth to show by displaying the relationship Elliot shares with society and his interactions as a part of as focus, instead of only maintaining eyes on Elliot.

Acting

 Rami Malek and Christian Slater display powerful acting skills and with each scene they absorb themselves into the character. It’s hard to imagine them as anything besides their character on the show. Christian Slater and Rami Malek won Emmys for their performance on the show.

Christian Slater as Mr. Robot and Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson 

Epic Monologues 

The show's dialogues when combined with the actor's delivery is the perfect recipe for historic television monologues. They are written in a easy and simple manner allowing the meaning to be etched into the hearts of the viewers. It address issues of privacy, corporate greed and wealth gap in a manner that makes the audience question their own way of living.

In conclusion, Mr. Robot is a once in a lifetime show that exposes the unethicality behind big corporations and how they run the world without us knowing and is a true techno-thriller that uses technology as a medium to explore the great evil technology contains.