14
votes

I'm looking for a movie I saw more than fifteen years ago. I vaguely remember the plot but I can't find it!

In this movie everyone has a microchip implanted that does everything for them: they don't need to count or to read, everything is done by the chip.

The protagonist, however, refuses to have the microchip implanted. There is a scene where he tells a female friend (?) that he liked a book he read but he is the only one who still needs to read books.

Anyway, at a certain point the microchip starts to make people go crazy, like it makes them do things their brain cannot do: it makes them count the number of their facial hair or something like this and people start to go crazy and die. So the protagonist and his female friend decide to stop the microchip (?).

The movie was in colour, but I don't remember any names. I saw it in Italian, but it was clearly dubbed. It probably was a movie from an English speaking country but I am not sure, I was maybe ten at the time.

It probably was filmed in the 90s or late 80s but I can't be sure. I vaguely remember a scene where the father of the protagonist (or the protagonist's friend) starts to count the hair on his body and he can't stop. He ends up overstimulating his brain and dies.

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  • @Aravind Suresh No, because I saw it more than 15 years ago and if I recall correctly the microchip was a choice. The protagonist chose not to have it implanted but he still was a member of that society. – Nihal Dec 6 '17 at 11:22
4
votes

That looks like Stream of Consciousness, from the series The Outer Limits (1995), Season 3, Episode 5 that aired on 2/7/1997.

IMDb Storyline:

In a future world, nearly all humans have an embedded neural connection to a massive computer system known as the Stream. One exception to that is Ryan Unger who cannot be connected to the net because of a childhood accident that damaged his neurological system. By the standards of the time, Ryan is an imbecile relying on reading books for information while the majority simply having to think it. When a virus starts to kill some of them however, it's Ryan who concludes that it is coming from the Stream itself and all attempts to stop it will be unsuccessful. Only Ryan can save them - both now and in the future.

Sorry, but I could not find a trailer or even a picture.

This fits your description with the exception that our protagonist could not connect to “The Stream” at all – though he wanted to. This “disability” is what allows him to save the day.

Wikipedia lists the somber epitaph:

We make tools to extend our abilities, to further our reach, and fulfill our aspirations. But we must never let them define us. For if there is no difference between tool and maker, then who will be left to build the world?

  • yes that's it, that's the one! Thank you very much, I've been looking for it for years now. Apparently it has been dubbed in Italian and it was shown on TMC2 channel which I didn't remember because it doesn't exist anymore. Thank you! – Nihal Dec 7 '17 at 21:07

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