Silk Road review – high-free account of the dark-web drugs emporium

Taking a fanboy stance on Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht doesn't help Tiller Russell's underpowered Silicon Valley crime drama

Here's an unthrilling, bland drama about the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind the illegal online drug emporium Silk Road (described by the FBI as the Amazon of drug sites"). Between 2011 and 2013, PhD dropout Ulbricht made millions of dollars in commissions from users on the dark web anonymously buying and selling drugs. Then he got busted.

If you consider how gripping David Fincher made a bunch of geeks in hoodies talking about algorithms look in The Social Network, the Ulbricht story - involving an FBI manhunt and allegations of murder-for-hire - should be a doddle. But watching Silk Road is a bit like rolling a joint only to find the leafy green substance you've been sold is oregano. The highs just don't come.