Review: Catfish

Catfish is the kind of movie that you’ll be discussing as soon as the credits start rolling. It is an unexpected and beautifully made film, which will surprise you in ways that you could not predict.

This was a little project which made the rounds at various film festivals and art-house cinemas around the country last year without getting a major release. It’s now available on DVD and this review is to point out the film if it passed you by last year.

Catfish tells the story of filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost who document the quirky relationship between Ariel’s photographer brother, Nev, and an eight-year-old painter, Abby. Their relationship starts when she posts Nev paintings of his photos which had been published in the newspaper. Soon after they are friends on Facebook and they begin chatting online. Eventually, via Facebook, Nev gets to know Abby’s family, her mum, sister and a whole network of friends. Abby’s older sister, Megan, and Nev start to get know each other and commence an online relationship. But when the phone calls start to become a little strange, Ariel and Henry start to investigate the bizarre situation further. There are tones of classic noir detective films here as they start to examine and unravelling the truth behind the story.

According to its makers, Catfish is a documentary, but its genuineness has been brought into question by many. The film’s producer, Andrew Jareki, directed the well-received documentary Capturing the Friedmans (2007), of which parallels can be drawn with Catfish - both films feature directors following their instincts to uncover a disturbing story. It has gained a lot of hype in the media for its lowly budget of $30,000 and staggering $3m box office taking, making it a Blair Witch-like phenomenon. Whether Catfish is authentic or not is by the by, as the film still packs a strong emotional punch and is an amazing, compelling story. For what it’s worth, I believe the documentary to be genuine and real as the story is far too conceivable, although there is still a doubt in my mind as to when the hidden truth that underlies the film was actually discovered. It is difficult to review this film without giving too much away about the veiled story, so this review will remain brief.

Catfish is a contemporary story of communication, relationships, and how the internet, Facebook in particular, can be a risky and dodgy place. The film raises many issues, including deception and security on the social networking website. Despite a minute budget, Schulman and Joost introduce a new type of filmmaking, utilising internet services such as Google Maps and YouTube to tell the story in a compelling and new style never before seen on the big screen. There is one instance where Nev, Ariel and Henry travel to meet the “Facebook family” and Google Street View is used to show their journey to this small town which is essentially in the middle of nowhere.

In many ways, this was the second best Facebook film of last year, and a close second at that (no prizes for guessing which was best). That said, these two films are completely different; Catfish shows us the sinister side of Facebook where people can manipulate an image of themselves and present a completely different person to the world. It always keeps you in suspense and provides a view of the web that is both eerie and poignant at the same time.