December 16, 2010

REVIEW: Catfish (dir. Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman)


Nev is a 24-yr-old photographer from New York, his brother Ariel and their best friend Henry are filmmakers. When Nev strikes up an online friendship with Abby, an 8-yr-old girl who wants to paint his photographs, Ariel and Henry decide to document this bizarre online relationship. As the paintings start to arrive, Nev strikes up a more romantic relationship with Abby’s older sister Megan. Over the ensuing months Nev and Megan’s relationship becomes more passionate, and his feelings for Abby’s family become increasingly powerful… and then the cracks start to appear. When Megan sends Nev a song dedication, it only takes a few minutes of searching on YouTube to discover that she has stolen the recording and claimed it as her own. Soon after, when Abby’s mother claims that Abby has a gallery exhibition, an equally simple search on Google Earth proves that the gallery doesn’t even exist. Their suspicions aroused, Nev, Ariel, and Henry head off on a road trip to uncover the deepening mystery. What they discover when they arrive on Abby’s rural farm… is quite disturbing.

Critics are split on the issue of whether this film is really genuine, but this critic is willing to take the leap of faith. The warmth and spontaneity of Joost and Schulman’s filmmaking is too sincere to be a hoax. The story has obviously been edited to create a more traditional flow of revelations and moments where the tension is amped up, but messing around with the flow of time doesn’t mean that the events themselves are not real. Nev is an intriguing and roguish young man who knows how to work an audience, and his familiarity with the guys behind the camera make for an intimate and engaging film. The real draw of the film is obviously based around the revelations at Abby’s farm; but I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so I will leave it there for now… just go and watch this film!

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