Rating of
3.5/4
This year's real scary movie.
memento_mori - wrote on 08/21/13
For the past couple of years, I've seen one film almost every year that made me feel so disgusted by life and traumatized after watching it. 2008 had Hunger, 2009 had The Road, 2011 had We Need To Talk About Kevin, 2012 had Compliance and this year has Disconnect. A shockingly realistic depiction of what happens in some situation of online abuse.
Let me start out with the negatives. That's pretty ironic to say, because this movie is about negative situations that can traumatize and change people.
This film is directed by a man named Henry Alex Rubin, and I'm not too sure if his style was fitting for this film. Sometimes his direction was terrible, sometimes it was brilliant. It's a mishmash.
For example, I didn't like the constant zoom in and outs. The film needed some contrast. What I loved where the slow-motion sequences near the ending.
Now, with a film of this kind - with different stories intertwined - there will always be the weaker one, and this film has it. My favorite being the cyber-bullying case, and my least favorite the story of the news reporter.
The cyber-bullying story was a perfect example of how recklessly children use Facebook and social networking sites to their advantage to play pranks on other children.
While the news reporter story started out interesting, it was constantly like settling mist. It didn't seem to go anywhere and I think the climax of the story was a little too simple.
Speaking of too simple, the very ending is another thing I had a problem with. It was too soft. This movie lingered and hesitated in the other stories too long, so it went out lukewarm. I think they really needed that kick to bring their final point across. If you've seen the movie, you understand what happens in the ending to the boy who is pranked. I needed some closure there. It didn't feel rounded up.
On the other hand, we have the good.
The acting is so authentic. Jason Bateman blew me away. I have not enjoyed his comedy in the past (Couples Retreat, Horrible Bosses), but here he gives an outstanding dramatic performance that came completely out of nowhere. Bateman, do more of this. You are excellent at it.
The film holds a constant feeling of atmosphere, choosing to let us look into the lives of ordinary people who are attacked and begin to slowly deteriorate through the impact of modern technology.
It just proves to show that not everything that's techy and advanced is a good thing. People will find a way to manipulate each other, just for kicks.
So, in the end, I'm satisfied with this year's creepy authentic movie. It lacked the right closure, but it just gave us the image of what can happen to a person by simply posting a profile pic or doing something unconsciously online.
