Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hackerville’ on HBO, a Solid Cyberthriller Straddling Germany and Romania

HBO Europe series Hackerville has finally been released in the U.S., after making its overseas debut in 2018. Produced in partnership with German premium-cable channel TNT Serie, this six-episode cyberdrama jumps between Frankfurt and Timisoara, Romania, hitting all the prestige-TV bases: complex leads, a broad smattering of supporting characters, big-screen-style cinematography and some compelling, potentially dark subtext.

HACKERVILLE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A medium-wide drone shot flutters by a piece of the Frankfurt skyline.

The Gist: The scene is the offices of BKA Frankfurt, a whale of a bank. A cubicle doofus clicks on a joke email that ends up being quite serious. Malware worms its way into the system; servers heat up, blinking and squawking and whirring. Tech wizardess Lisa Metz (Anna Schumacher) pops peanuts in her mouth as she batters the keyboard, tracing the source. Suddenly, the attack ceases. Lisa’s boss, Wolfgang (Ronald Zehrfeld), wants to give her credit, but the hacker pulled the plug himself — and didn’t steal any money. Curious.

Coincidentally, the trace leads Lisa to her hometown, Timisoara. She’s a virtuoso at her desk, but this is her first time working in the field, and her boss’ boss is skeptical. Pressure’s on. During her first visit to Romania in 20 years, Lisa targets a serial hacker dubbed Seraphim, and works with local authorities, who have been staking out a hacker cell. The calamitously named Adam Sandor (Andi Vasluianu) leads the investigation, hoping to bust a snapback cap-wearing hipster-hacker crime boss, Cezar Iacob (Stefan Lupu). Adam Sandor works for Chief Commissioner Valentin Pogonaru (Calin Chirila), whose capacious mustache says MY WAY OR THE (INFORMATION SUPER)HIGHWAY.

The raid yields tidbits rather than the big fish: 50k Euro and stonewalling from a crew of Iacob’s hacker minions, led by Dragos (Vlad Brumaru). Cue the interrogation montage! Lisa breaks her game face long enough to do some wistful, nostalgic sightseeing before she and Adam Sandor confront Seraphim, real name Cornel Popescu (Florin Galan). But while he’s in custody, the bank is hacked again, to the tune of 9.99 Euro. Curious again, and so much for that lead. Just as they find another warm trail to sniff — Cezar snatches up a prime piece of real estate, to the chagrin of a big-time local developer — Lisa’s impatient bosses book her a flight back to Frankfurt. She’s frustrated. Wouldn’t you be?

The episode ends with a flurry of developments: On the way to the airport, Lisa cultivates a romantic spark with Adam Sandor; she reveals that nobody’s sure if her mother committed suicide, while he tells her he’s “almost” divorced. We learn her overprotective father, Walter (Ovidiu Schumacher), has a connection with Chief Mustache. Cezar’s new property acquisition literally goes up in flames. And just before Lisa boards her plane, she spots a crucial piece of evidence in some video-surveillance footage revealing that Dragos’ 14-year-old brother, Cipi (Voicu Dumitras), may be a key figure in the cyberattacks.

Our Take: This pilot episode is tightly written, and dense with plot and character. There’s very little superfluous stuff here. It’s crisply edited and moves at a good clip. The performances are nicely understated. It churns up thoughtful fodder about gender politics in the workplace, and the war between truth and nostalgia. It’s never boring. It’s impressive.

Granted, originality isn’t its strong suit. Some of its story tropes ring familiar: the return-to-the-hometown narrative, the mystery of Lisa’s past Romanian connections, the sexual tension between lead investigators. You can smell a few probable story beats developing for future episodes. And the sightseeing sequence boasts about a half-dozen consecutive drone shots in a row. We get it: the effing place is beautiful, no matter how dangerous Lisa’s cranky dad says it is!

One final criticism: DON’T NAME A LEAD CHARACTER ADAM SANDOR. You wouldn’t name him Tim Hanks, Denzel Worthington or Idris Elbow, right? It’s so distracting. Dave Sandor, Jim Sandor, Sergei Sandor… even Spider-Man Sandor would have been better. There are so many options.

Sex and Skin: None so far.

Parting Shot: Dragos grins as he holds up a personalized T-shirt given to him by his little brother Cipi, who laughs when he says he paid — yep — 9.99 Euro for it.

Sleeper Star: The episode’s final moments reveal young Cipi’s crucial role in the plot, so I’d wager Dumitras’ performance will be one to keep an eye on.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Trust is good. Control is better,” Lisa’s dad says. Ominous!

Our Call: STREAM IT. Hackerville isn’t shaping up to be a powerhouse for HBO, nor will it garner the acclaim of its nearest comparison point, Mr. Robot. But so far, it’s rock-solid, and imminently watchable.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Hackerville on HBO Go and HBO Now