The 2014 German criminal drama Who Am I (Kein System ist safe) was directed by Baran bo Odar, who also created the Netflix series DARK. The plot centres on a lone computer genius and hacker who becomes involved in a number of activities related to the dark web. The film features amazing nonlinear storytelling, and the way the darknet is shown is cleverly simplified. Tom Schilling, Elyas M’Barek, and Trine Dyrholm play the main characters in the ensemble. Although the plot is quite simple, there might be a few loose ends you want to tie up. There are spoilers ahead for the 2014 film Who Am I’s plot and conclusion.
Who Am I The Story’s Motive
Let’s briefly go through the Who Am I plot in order before discussing the conclusion.
Benjamin’s Previous
The majority of people avoided Benjamin (Ben) as a child since he was a quiet child, especially throughout his years at school. When he was a small boy, his father fled. His mother suffered from multiple personality disorder before committing suicide. Ben was nurtured by his grandma as a young child. After receiving an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and being admitted to the hospital, he eventually starts caring for his grandmother. Ben develops into a computer wiz and skilled hacker as he gets older. Yet he delivers pizzas during the day.
So who is Marie?
Ben had liked Marie ever since he was in school. Ben makes the decision to break in and steal the exam paper for her so that she would have it for her exam. Sadly, he is caught and must perform 50 hours of community service. Ben meets Max and his two hacker friends Stefan and Paul during that period, who are drawn to Ben due to his history as a hacker. Ben shows that he is the real deal by breaking into the servers of the electrical board and cutting off power to a few blocks. At a party that Max and his buddies crash, Ben pulls this off. They leave as soon as the police show up. Ben, who Marie remembers from the getaway, joins her when she gets caught up in the action.
LAY is created!
The four men use the moniker CLAY (Clowns Laughing At You) and start spreading their name by breaking into a few unimportant events. They stay at Ben’s grandmother’s house, which is currently vacant as a result of the long-term care she is receiving at a hospital.
What is MRX? What desires CLAY?
The dark web hails MRX as the greatest hacker alive. CLAY, in particular Max, seeks MRX’s praise, but all they receive in return for their hacking activities is MRX criticising them on the dark web.
What is FR13NDS?
Like CLAY, the hacker group FR13NDS is also much older and more well-known. MRX is one of the FR13NDS members who has connections to the Russian dark web, albeit this information is only revealed later.
Hanne Lindberg, who is she?
Hanne, the head cybercrime investigator for Europol, is searching for FR13NDS because of their prior attacks on the servers of the German Army and the Frankfurt branch of the European Central Bank. But after three years of failure, Hanne’s position is under jeopardy.
the Federal Intelligence Service being hacked
To earn the respect of the dark web, CLAY feel they must step up their game. So they overnight break in and compromise the Federal Intelligence Service’s printers. When the office reopens in the morning, the printers print the CLAY logo, which causes considerable media coverage. Throughout the course of the night’s hacking, Ben just so happens to stumble into some concealed encrypted data at the Federal Intelligence Service and secretly makes a copy.
Why is Krypton being killed, and who is he?
Ben uploads the encrypted data he acquired from the Federal Intelligence Service to MRX carelessly in an effort to show Max that he is not a “nothing” in their fight over Marie. The names and identities of double-agent hackers who collaborate with law enforcement are contained in the encrypted data. One such person who has been providing inside information to expose FR13NDS and MRX is Krypton, a member of FR13NDS. Upon discovering Krypton, MRX is incensed and sells this information to the Russian dark web, who then assassinate Krypton. As CLAY claims responsibility for the Federal Intelligence Service attack, they are very away connected to Krypton’s death and classified as a terrorist group.
Discovering Ben’s Identity Through Europol Hacking
Via a public internet service, CLAY contacts MRX, who requests that they hack into Europol and grant him backdoor access. This presents CLAY with the chance to deceive MRX by setting up a trap that will reveal MRX’s true identity. A Trojan inside a Trojan is what exactly? A Trojan is a piece of software that enables illegal access to computers on a network from the outside. Despite their greatest efforts, CLAY are unable to breach Europol. They check the sewers as a last resort but are unsuccessful, and Max wounds his hand on a nail.
One of the students drops a visiting badge, which Ben picks up. Ben sets up a specific access point at Europol, pretending to be a student who lost his wallet, which permits an illicit entry into Europol. Ben has installed an access point, but it is also set up to record and reveal the IP address of everyone who uses it. So, his name would be made known if MRX attempted to use this backdoor to access Europol.
Sadly, MRX has predicted this. Hence, MRX gives Ben a unique access key for the conversation where the Trojan is to be traded. Ben utilises it carelessly only to be duped and exposed by MRX. Ben’s face is likewise captured by MRX utilising the laptop webcam. This is one of many unlikely scenarios that the movie depicts, as no hacker would leave their webcam unprotected.
What actually occurs to CLAY while he is at the hotel?
Ben returns to the hotel to inform the other claimants of his exposure. He informs the others that they are not dead and begs them to go. Nonetheless, they decide to stand by one another and work through this as a group. Ben’s name is intended to be removed from the records, thus CLAY wants to provide him access to the Witness Protection Program.
Hanne was recently suspended as a result of her failure to discontinue FR13NDS, CLAY learns. CLAY takes advantage of this since they anticipate Hanne’s desperation to catch MRX and FR13NDS. They learn with Marie’s assistance that those suffering from mental illness are not eligible for the Witness Protection Program. This information helped CLAY come up with a strategy. They start by leaving subtle deceptive hints that could indicate Ben, like his mother, has multiple personality disorder. Then they deliberately pierce Ben’s hand with a nail so Hanne can locate it.
Who I Am: Presented: Ben’s Lies
This brings us to the opening of the movie, where Ben hands himself in while pretending to be knowledgeable about MRX and FR13NDS. Ben makes up the story that when he returned to his hotel room, the other CLAY members had been killed, and he was forced to run to Hanne for help. In exchange for helping her reach MRX and FR13NDS, Ben convinces Hanne to agree to put him on the Witness Protection Program. She concurs.
Ben tells the story he made up and describes how it went south in the hotel room. Following that, he gains access to a computer, which Ben uses to impersonate MRX on the dark web and spread rumours that MRX is a double agent. It seems that Ben was able to impersonate MRX on the darknet thanks to the information that Krypton provided (in the encrypted file). Furious, the actual MRX employs unsafe hacking techniques to enter Ben’s discussion area. The police are dispatched to MRX’s address, and Ben has set up a trap by revealing his IP. It turns out that MRX is a 19-year-old young man who is detained in New York.
Who I Am: Explained: Hanne is deceived
Ben has been dropping bogus clues, and Hanne falls for them.
The shells of the bullets he offers her—claiming to have discovered them in the hotel room where the CLAY members were found dead—were actually his grandfathers’ and date back to World War I.
Marie was told by CLAY to behave as though she had never met Ben, so when she speaks to Hanne, she claims that Ben was simply a weirdo in school and that she didn’t know him in any other capacity.
Ben describes how Max suffered a nail wound on his hand while attempting to break into Europol.
Hanne learns from Ben’s doctor that Ben’s mother suffered from multiple personality disorder. She must do something that CLAY anticipates.
It seems to Hanne that she is the one inferring that Ben has multiple personality disorder from all the hints CLAY and Ben have left.
As anticipated by CLAY, Hanne falls for the ruse and claims that Ben has MPD and that the other CLAY members are all a figment of his imagination. Furthermore, Ben was actually the only CLAY member committing all of the online offences alone. Hanne is unable to enrol Ben in the Witness Protection Program due to his alleged ailment. Ben is given temporary access to the Witness Protection Program by Hanne out of compassion for him. Ben completes his goal and successfully deletes his entire identity.
Afterwards, Hanne drops Ben off so that he can flee under the condition that he stops hacking. She is aware that Ben is a little fish and that as long as they have FR13NDS and MRX, no one will be looking for him.
Who Am I? Final What do the sugar cubes symbolise, explained?
The conclusion of Who Am I reveals that Ben deceived Hanne into believing he is the only CLAY member and suffers from multiple personality disorder. Using Hanne’s confidence, he changes his identity, leaves town with Max, Stefan, Paul, and Marie.
Ben does this technique with four sugar cubes by hiding three of them in his palms and revealing only one throughout the inquisition. Ben then explains the trick to Hanne right as they leave her car, adding, “Everyone sees what they want to see.” The four cubes stand in for the four CLAY participants. Three of the cubes are hidden by Ben’s method, leaving only one exposed. This is a subliminal hint as to what he actually did, which was to conceal the other three CLAY members while revealing only himself.
Ben never intended to be in the Witness Protection Program; instead, he just wanted to completely forget who he was as MRX revealed him and start over. As soon as Ben turns and leaves, Hanne understands what he was trying to convey to her with the four-cube trick. She doesn’t bother pursuing him though because she already possesses MRX and FR13NDS, therefore her goal has been achieved. Hanne acknowledges Ben’s cunning while grinning to herself in a programme set up for her.
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