Catfish

*Warning: this review will contain spoilers

Catfish charts the perils and pitfalls of modern-day romance as a photogenic photographer falls for a too-good-to-be-true beauty through Facebook in this hotly conjectured 'doco'.

What’s the deal?

Catfish is basically a cautionary tale about the dangers of online (mis)communication. New York snapper Nev Schulman embarks on a strange net-based friendship with an eight-year-old art prodigy named Abby Pierce, who sends him paintings of his photographs. Through Abby, Nev befriends the entire Pierce family and embarks on a cyber-courtship with Abby's hottie half-sister, Megan. When Nev and his filmmaker flatties discover that the Peirce/Faccio clan aren't all they appear to be, they undertake a gutsy cross-country journey to the family's home to smoke out the truth face-to-face.

It’s good!

It’s a very beautifully-paced and structured doco, evoking a creepy, almost horror-ish, sense of foreboding as our detective trio unravel a web of deceit. If Nev is not an actor, he should become a counsellor, as the showdown was cathartic and extremely unsettling, but empathetic.

What’s wrong with you?

Catfish has come under a lot of scrutiny, with renowned docomakers such as Morgan Spurlock describing it as a ‘fake documentary’. Certainly there are scenes that feel set up and/or ‘recreated’ for dramatic effect. My personal opinion is the filmmakers probably didn’t realize they had a story until they decided to travel to confront the Pierce family, and thus the first half is a loose recreation of events.

Neo-Maxi Zoom Dweeb-ery

You'll love hearing the story about how the doco got it's name. It's a folksy scene worthy of something from a gentler Deliverance.

Truth?

There's some lovely, raw moments and good cinematography. This is a solid first effect and a great little companion piece to The Social Network.

#Psychological #SocialIssues #Documentary #SocialMedia