Monday 20 December 2010

This year there have been two very different movies about facebook: the story of the beginning with the excellent The Social Network, and now this cautionary tale of what is real and what is not in the cyber world.

Two filmmakers, Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, decide to make a movie about Ariel's brother Nev, a photographer of dancers, and his growing friendship with an 8-year-old girl who sent him a painting and now they correspond on facebook. She lives with her mother and father in a small town and has a sister, Megan. After speaking to the mother, Angela, he starts a relationship with Megan, a beautiful looking woman. Everything seems to be perfect. A little too perfect.

We have been told not to give away too much about this film, and so I will respect the film makers request. To be honest, it would really spoil this well made, clever and thought-provoking documentary which deals with how we all live in a world of lies and deceit.

We never know whether this film is truth or not. If it is, then there are moments of pure emotion that you would find hard to get from any other movie. If it is fabricated, then this is one of the best dramas of the year. This is where the film falls down. You sit watching and you become immediately captivated by the forming of the relationships that Nev makes, that when the first bomb drops, you genuinely feel for him, so if this is the real McCoy, then watching a man's heart literally shatter is a hard enough experience.

The Internet is a really positive place to be in, but in the hands of someone who doesn't fully grasp life, it can be a tool of destruction, and you do wonder how someone can do what is done here.

If you do see this film, and I strongly recommend you do, because it is moving, uplifting, funny and incredibly interesting, don't give away what happens. You will spoil it for those who haven't seen it and can enjoy it.

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