I haven’t done a film review in a while.
Mostly because I haven’t found that many new flicks worth giving a chance. That said, I just watched “Disconnect” – a film from a few years ago. And I’mma have to give it a B+. (It went up from a C rating because of Skarsgard and earned a plus because this’s in it):
It reminded me of a Coppola film – a bit dreamy in both soundtrack and style – which worked for the subject matter of a bunch of different people getting effed over when their online lives and their IRL lives intertwine. There’s the kid who does live porn. Then there’s the news reporter who finds and interviews him. And she ends up consulting with a dude who has a teenager who hangs himself when his dickpic gets spread around the school by a catfisher. And the catfisher kid’s dad’s a detective. And he’s working on the case of a couple whose baby died before they got identity hacked. And the kneebone’s connected to the… ♪femur bone… All those tech-connections confusing enough for you? Good.
Because – while the message is loud and clear – the ending offers no resolution.
No closure.
(But I did learn from Bateman’s character the most epic way to use my laptop in bed):
Don’t get me wrong – it’s beautifully shot with some super fancy slow-mo violent climaxes including the little brat catfisher getting clobbered with a hockey stick by the dad of the catfishee (Is that a thing? Well it is now.) But, ultimately you dunno if the kid’s gonna come out of his noose coma, or if the live cam twink is going to get murdered by his pimp (which was foreshadowed teasingly – but moistens up your cinema loins to end in a big pair of cinematic blue balls), or if the couple makes a new kid to put in the empty crib they still keep around. #morbid
Although it pissed me off at first, this is one of those flicks you make peace with after the fact. In fact, I like that whole lack of resolution – because that’s how life is. There’s no decorative ties or gift wrap that doesn’t get ripped open at some point. So, the credits just happen to roll between the tying of the bows and their undoing. I also love that it runs counter to our plugged-in nature; our online worlds tend to come with a sort of instant gratification anxiety. We send a message and we expect a prompt response. We tap an app, and we expect it to load yesterday. We post a picture and we expect immediate commentary validation. Any of this fails to meet our expectations and we go hulk smash.
So, it was kind of a smart artistic device for whoever this filmmaker was (I didn’t check) because he pisses off our brains off that just want any kinda ending – be it Capote-esque or Disney, we don’t care. But he doesn’t give it. Which reminds us of what’s real by giving the audience the same non-ending we get in life – so long as we’re still alive..
(Plus, I can forgive a director anything if he casts Vampire Eric.)
