The Internet is just like everything else, full of potential but easily corruptible in the right hands. For one creative mind, the pathways to both collided in an unforgettable venture. Now, the story of its creation and eventual downfall is chronicled in “Silk Road.” Anyone who might have overlooked the similarly named website’s presence would be excused for missing out; it was a marketplace filled with illegalities. In time this virtual hiding place would be on the radar of more than curious thrillseekers and worldly criminals.
Writer-director Tiller Russell is more than acquainted with adapting true stories. He executive produced as well as directed episodes of Netflix’s “Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer.” The documentary series has received buzz among true-crime fans for its in-depth look at the infamous criminal. Russell also worked on NBC’s solid performers “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Fire.”
Nick Robinson heads up the cast as Silk Road’s founder, a role built on balancing confidence with an unrelenting fear of failure. Jason Clarke acts as his antithesis, a veteran DEA agent whose own dubious experiences create chaos. The project also stars Katie Aselton, Jimmi Simpson, Daniel David Stewart, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lexi Rabe, Will Ropp, with Paul Walter Hauser, and Alexandra Shipp.
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Here’s the synopsis:
“Inspired by larger-than-life actual events, this riveting crime thriller follows the rise and fall of Silk Road, the infamous darknet site that sent a seismic shock through the World Wide Web. Young, idealistic, and driven to succeed, Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) creates the internet’s first unregulated marketplace: Silk Road. But when it becomes a multimillion-dollar pipeline for illicit drugs, Ross is set on a collision course with Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke), a disreputable and dangerously unpredictable DEA agent, who will use any means necessary to take him down.”
“Silk Road” arrives on digital, on-demand, and select theaters on February 19. Watch the first trailer for the film below.
