Catfish

Mystery

Hopscotch Entertainment

R4

With all the attention on Internet abuse this is a timely film. Although it is made as a documentary, there have been cries that it is a fake. Only the producers know, but even if it is a fake it is no less chilling.

Yaniv (Nev) Schulman is a New York photographer. Many of his photos are published and one day he receives in the mail a painting based on one of his photos. It is from Abby, an eight year old girl in a northern state. Nev is fascinated and amazed by the quality of her work. The two strike up a friendship on Facebook. Gradually members of Abby’s family including her mum Angela join in and thank him for what he has done for her. Whenever he tries to phone Abby she is out or asleep but he gets to know Angela well.

Abby’s older stepsister Megan seems particularly interested in Nev and they begin an online relationship. Nev is falling in love.

The bubble bursts when she forwards him a song she recently sang. Nev’s brother, a filmmaker, recognises the song and finds the exact sound clip on YouTube. Now Nev decides to visit the family to see Abby and Megan for himself. What he and his filmmaking friends find transforms the film from a mystery to something more like horror.

At this point the film’s distributor asks that we not give away the ending. Fair enough, it is a powerful finish to strange film.

In spite of questions about its authenticity the film is gripping and creepy. I found it relevant to today’s computer users, especially to those on social networking sites. Just how do you know who you are talking to?

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