Online identities offer a sense of freedom, which can be liberating in its own way, but at the same time, people also tend to abuse the freedom to propagate vile, toxic actions anonymously. Which is why it can be argued that how one chooses to behave in the virtual landscape, where accountability is easier to ignore than it is in real life, can prove to be a litmus test of their character. Lou Simon’s 9 Windows tiptoes around these ideas while venturing into the world of cybercrime and online voyeurism, but despite showing real potential for a complex, nuanced narrative with its premise, it settles for a tedious, predictable serial killer investigation. It is surprising in a sense as to how the first half of the movie sets up an interesting plot by introducing a protagonist whose personal demons highlight the central issues the movie wants to address directly and quickly abandons that narrative thread for a badly written thriller in the second half.Â
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Liza Learn About The Serial Killer?
As 9 Windows begins, Liza and her parents come into narrative focus, who seem pretty excited as Liza has been selected by the FBI, and her training is going to begin soon enough. Liza has recently graduated with computer science and criminal justice as majors and has an altruistic drive to build a career as an upholder of justice. It is quite clear that she has been able to match her profession with her passion. However, all of that comes crashing down when Liza and her parents meet an accident as a semi-truck collides with their car, resulting in Liza losing her parents and becoming a paraplegic. Liza begins to blame herself for her parents deaths, as she had asked them to take a detour, and the crippling guilt coupled with the loss of opportunities in her life and the psychological implications stemming from her physical condition results in Liza completely shutting herself off from the rest of the world. A year later, Liza is working as an administrator on an online lifestyle marketing platform, and the pay is good enough for her to afford a luxurious apartment equipped with a high-end surveillance system and a virtual assistant to help her in her daily activities. Liza vents her inner frustration and anger upon the users of the platform by leaving mean comments and ridiculing the plight of those in dire need of mental assistance, as she believes those truly hurt don’t express their pain online. She tries to justify her own isolation by denouncing others’ efforts to seek help. Liza has feelings for her physical therapist, Jeff, the only person from the outside world with whom she shares a connection, but keeping professional ethics in mind, Jeff remains cautiously distant, although he is quite supportive and friendly towards Liza.
One night, after most of the other advertising profiles on the platform go offline, Liza notices a new user streaming a video of burning a dog alive, and horrified, she informs the cybercrime division. Detective Boyle questions Liza about the incident, but given laws designating animals as possessions, they can’t bring any strong charges against the perpetrator. Additionally, the user has deleted his account after deleting the video, and the IP address has been redirected to confuse the authorities as well. However, on the next occasion, Liza sees a stream of a live murder, once again posted by an anonymous user, and this time too, Boyle dismisses her claims due to lack of evidence, terming the videos to be staged. Liza shares the incidents with Jeff, who assures Liza that he believes her. However, after learning of Liza’s academic background and present profession, Boyle does a little digging, which unearths her tendency for cyberbullying. As a result, it is assumed that Liza’s guilt of committing cyberbullying might have resulted in her inability to discern between real and staged events. Jeff, who was vouching for Liza in front of Boyle, becomes disappointed in her after learning about this, and their connection hits a rough patch as a result. Boyle advises Liza to seek therapy to better heal herself, and an apologetic Liza decides to adhere to his counsel.
Was Liza Able To Capture The Serial Killer?
Jeff eventually comes around and gets relieved after finding that Liza has decided to work on herself and is in better mental shape. This time both Jeff and Liza come across one of the live streaming videos of a brutal murder, and Liza manages to screen record it just in time. Boyle has to admit that Liza was probably telling the truth, and he brings his associate, former FBI agent Detective Thurgood, to assist in the investigation. Liza investigates the murders on her own, using her deductive skills, as she realizes that a single person is involved in the killings after noticing a pattern of the anonymous user IDs being named after notorious serial killers, deducing the basement location of the incidents to be near a commuter train route, and the perp having the resources to easily dispose of the body—using a furnace or something similar. On one occasion, Liza saves one of her cyberbullying victims, Christina, who was committing suicide on a live stream, by pulling up her address and sending authorities just in time. At the same time, Liza witnesses another murder video posted by the serial killer but decides to prioritize saving Christina. This is a moment for Liza’s personal growth as she faces the reality of how even seemingly insignificant acts of apathy and cruelty can compound to have a severe mental impact upon others.
From the reflection of a face on the knife of one of the murder videos she had recorded, Liza manages to identify the serial killer by using facial recognition software, who turns out to be a certain Jason Hignite. Thurgood is beyond impressed at Liza’s skills, and he puts in a good word for her at the agency, and Liza’s employer informs Liza about the agency’s decision to reconsider her case. In the meantime, Hignite’s status as a suspect becomes public news, and he is revealed to have left the country; Liza’s assistance with the investigation comes to light as well. Liza even manages to pinpoint Hignite’s address by doing some online research and shares the news with Jeff via voicemail. Things go awry when Hignite abducts Liza by disabling the surveillance system in her apartment, and by the time Jeff arrives there to check up on Liza, he sees the live stream has begun—and while tormenting Liza, Hignite confesses to his crimes, gloating about them. Fetching Hignite’s address from Liza’s intel, Jeff informs Detective Boyle, who manages to reach Hignite’s basement just in time to rescue Liza and kill Hignite by shooting him to death.
Much later, Jeff and Liza are now a couple; Liza has become a member of the agency and is on good terms with Boyle and Thurgood. Perhaps from the psychosomatic shock from the recent events, Liza has slowly started to walk on her own and is pretty positive about making a complete recovery. As the movie ends with Jeff turning off the screen of the marketing platform, it indicates Liza is prepared to once again pursue her passion, living this life and traumatic memories behind.
