Catfish

I'm a little bit surprised to not see more reactions to Catfish already around the web, given that it's one of the bigger "indie" films of the year, and definitely among the most discussed documentaries. I can only surmise that maybe it's because of some bad marketing - after all, the marketing creates the impression of another "found footage" horror film, which the movie is definitely not. So, I thought I'd post a little bit of a lengthier (but spoiler-free) discussion of the film in the hopes of drawing out more people to see it.

First, let's start with what Catfish is NOT: Catfish is not a horror or suspense film, or even a thriller, no matter what the trailer implies. That's not to say that there isn't some unease here, but ultimately it's a far more human kind of story, not the kind of movie where a maniac suddenly comes running out and attacks everyone.

Secondly, Catfish is a documentary, not a "found footage" type of film. Although there are some legitimate concerns about how much of the movie is genuinely true or not (and we'll get to that soon enough), this is a documentary. So if you're going to see this movie not expecting a documentary, you're going to leave very pissed (I know there were two very irritated rednecks behind me who seemed to feel they were "tricked" into seeing a documentary), and I think that's happening a lot across the country, leading to some bad reactions toward the film.

Okay, we've established what Catfish isn't. So what is it?

In 2008, a young photographer named Nev Schulman had a picture printed in a major newspaper. In the wake of that publication, he received a friend request from a young girl named Abby, who enjoyed taking existing photographs and turning them into paintings. Nev and Abby struck up a friendship on Facebook, and that friendship soon extended to the rest of Abby's family, including her mother, Angela, and her older sister Megan Faccio. Over time, Nev talked to them online, exchanged packages, made phone calls, and genuinely got to be close friends. And then, some red flags started to go up, and Nev started to wonder if there was more going on here. Along with his brother Ariel and friend Henry Joost, Nev decided to see what the truth was behind his new friends.

That's about all you really should know about Catfish going in. Now, the marketing has built up the "giant OMG twist" in the picture, but if you've used the internet, the idea that people online might not be all they seem isn't exactly going to rock your world. Luckily, the film itself doesn't build to a single revelation, but rather a slow unraveling on what exactly is going on, one that focuses on the humanity at the core of it all, rather than simply the shock value of it all. In other words, Catfish is as interested in why this deceit has been perpetrated as what exactly that deceit has been. And even with that being said, that's not to underplay the bizarreness of this situation; I consider myself a pretty web-savvy kind of guy, and I'd be lying if I said even I wasn't somewhat surprised by exactly how everything unwinds in the film.

Okay, so a guy meets someone online who's not what they say. Big deal. Happens all the time. What makes this worth seeing?

A few things. First of all, while this does happen all the time, that doesn't make Catfish any less engaging as a film or any less riveting as a story. The filmmakers do a nice job pacing the story and using technology - of course, there's Facebook, but also YouTube and Google Maps - to provide the transitions and tie the film together. This is compelling filmmaking, and although it's not masterful stuff, it's still very involving and gripping work.

Secondly, for all the hype about the "reality" behind the story, Catfish is ultimately a very human story. What really makes the movie work for me is not just that the crew unravels the situation; it's the kindness and heart with which they deal with the situation. In the end, the crew, especially Nev, has every right to be furious and betrayed at being deceived. Instead, what happens is a very universal, very saddening experience more about what drives people to do this sort of thing, and the result is far more emotional and heartbreaking than you might expect from the movie.

There's lots more to discuss here, with perhaps the biggest question circulating the web being how much of the film is true and how much is not. (My own take is that much of the story is generally true, although I suspect the crew may have had suspicions about Abby and her family before they started showing them to the cameras.) But even if it were all fake, this would still be fascinating stuff, anchored by a central figure at the end who lingers far beyond the "mystery" at the film's core.

I absolutely loved the movie. Yes, it's not a perfectly made film, but it's a compelling one, and one that has a great hook and an emotional core that really works. Much like The Social Network, it's a film very much of our time, and as much as anything, it's a depiction of the ways social interaction has changed in our digital age.