HBO Max: “Kimi” directed by Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh has never totally bought into big-studio Hollywood. Although he has made movies like “Oceans 11”,  his other films often represent his antagonistic relationship with the powers that be, like nuclear power companies (“Erin Brockovich”).

With “Kimi,” his gorgeous-looking new thriller, Soderbergh indulges his us-against-them streak once again—taking on another type of bad guy: Big Tech.

Kimi, like Siri, is a device that responds to vocal demands (as in “Kimi, turn up the music.”) Apparently, Kimi also forwards selected messages to a tech team for quality control. One day, one of these techies, Angela (Zoe Kravitz), hears what she believes to be a violent crime being committed.

Angela, a WFH (work from home) agoraphobe, never ventures out of her loft (she even texts her hookups to come over and have sex.) So it is a bit of a personal challenge when she is asked to bring in a flash drive of what she’s heard to her company, made more challenging when it’s discovered the company and its impending IPO may be compromised by the message.

We follow Angela as she tries to escape the corporate bad guys—through the labyrinth of her high-tech office building, through a Seattle protest rally, and onto the city’s light rail system. It is one big thrilling chase scene right with all the style and excitement of Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.” (Sorry, no Mount Rushmore finale, people.)

“Kimi” is one of those smart Soderberghian movies that is liable to get lost amidst the noisy “The Batman” movies out there. So some off night, say “Siri, find me a scary movie that’s also smart.” See if you aren’t directed to “Kimi.” (HBO Max.)