BlackBerry film traces smartphone pioneer’s rise and fall

ERR’s Culture Portal recommends Matt Johnson’s darkly comic thriller BlackBerry, which tells the true story of the extraordinary rise and fall of one of the world’s first smartphones.

The film follows a time when everyone dreamed of owning a smartphone and every businessperson seemed to have one. Just as BlackBerry’s manufacturer appeared to have the world in its hands, Steve Jobs launched the iPhone.

The company’s excessive attachment to its technology, inability to respond to competition at the right moment and failure to negotiate with mobile operators cost it both half of the US smartphone market and billions of dollars in annual revenue.

Based on the book When the Signal Was Lost: The Untold Story of BlackBerry’s Unusual Rise and Startling Fall, the film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and received high praise from critics, audiences and technology specialists.

BlackBerry was directed by Matt Johnson and stars Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Cary Elwes and Michael Ironside. The film is available on Jupiter.