Virtual Insanity

Long before Black Mirror, the mid-1990s delivered a wave of cyber-thrillers packed with dystopian hackers, digital dreams, and techno-paranoia. It was an era where cyberspace was still a mystery, the internet was a buzzword, and nobody could quite agree on what virtual reality even was — but everyone knew it was coming.

In our Virtual Insanity series, we dive deep into the year 1995, when Hollywood scrambled to visualize the digital frontier. From cult flops to accidental classics, we explore the cyber thrillers that tried to predict — or warn us about — our wired future.

We’re talking about overclocked CGI, VR headsets the size of toasters, evil tech corporations, messianic hackers, and a whole lot of leather. And while some of these films are laughably dated, others are shockingly prescient.

It’s time to jack in.