This movie starts off by warning the viewer that the film contains trauma and an unlikeable protagonist. Only one of those statements are true.
Our protagonist, Danni Sanders, is by conventional standards indeed unlikeable. But by the end, we learn that this movie is not conventional.
Starting off as a typical Netflix-like, influencer-driven, TikTok-inspired film, one could not be faulted entirely by sighing and rolling their eyes, wishing for it to end abruptly. Unfortunately, by the time the movie actually does end abruptly, you will have changed your mind.
Danni, our protagonist, is initially very likeable. She's sweet, fun, and easily entertained. But like many of the kids and adults of today's generation, she is lonely, depressed, and only just surviving.
After a fated comical run-in, leading her to smoking a copious amount of marijuana to impress the hip influencer Colin, she gets the idea to fake a trip to Paris for internet clout. While her online deception initially goes well, her story, and therefore her false online story, takes a turn for the worse after a terrible bombing takes place in actual Paris.
Stuck between coming clean and seeing the opportunity for even more internet clout, she doubles down on her lie and fakes being a victim, which works in her favor. At this point, you're not repelled by her morally decrepit actions, nor are you happy for her. You're simply just observing.
But through out the movie, the more she doubles down on her lies, the more we double down on her. Every time she one-ups her falsehood, we become more invested.
Through her support group, which she initially signed up for to get inspiration for her article, she meets Rowan, an actual survivor, and the two grow close. Danni's online manipulation is obviously terribly wrong, you can't help but feel for her when she finally gets what she wants: a friend.
Danni's fabrication continues on until a coworker of hers, Harper, catches on to her lies and confronts her about it.
This is where the movie's obligatory point-of-no-return rears it expectedly unexpected head. Danni is the one in the wrong, of course, but it is Harper who comes across as the villain, even though she is the one seeking justice and truth.
But why is this? Why do we care for the one in the wrong?
One of my favourite moments in movies is where a piece of dialogue, monologue, foreshadowing, whatever it may be, shows itself in a way that intentionally goes over the audience's head on the first viewing. But this little hint actually cuts through all the artistic fluffing and gets to the core of the creator's idea, the movie's message.
This movie has that, and it comes about 3/4's of the way through. It is casually disguised as a joke in a conversation between Danni and Rowan, after some firecrackers triggers our the protagonist's aforementioned friend's trauma, leading to her staying at the hospital.
There, Danni messes up a saying by Rowan, unintentionally switching around two words. This act of unintentionality is actually very intentionally speaking the film's core message directly to the viewer: "the internet loves turning villains into victims."
Now clearly, it is the other way around. Conventionally, it is. But as mentioned before, this movie is not conventional. Because by the end, Danni exposes herself, which leads to hate, shame and even death threats. But we can't help but feel bad for her. Why?
Because villains aren't villains. It isn't that clear cut. Villains are all victims in their own way. Danni never meant to hurt anybody, she was only lonely, depressed, and looking for a friend. She found a way to get out of that, albeit a very vile way. When she is hated more than ever, we, the audience, love her more so.
It's like the old Greeks. They loved tragedy and very often put on acts that depicted tragedy befalling a likeable character. They believed witnessing such tragedy was important, so the public could learn to cultivate empathy for those who needed it most.
Reading the other reviews on the movie, it seems the consensus is that the movie did not have a message, or it flew over their heads. Maybe the movie doesn't have a message. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Or maybe it's because this is a Greek tragedy disguised as a bland, feature-length Instagram Reel. This movie isn't telling the story of a hero beating a villain, it's telling the story of a broken woman seeking friendship in her own broken way, leading to her own downfall.
And we, in a postmodern age of black-and-white, good-or-bad cancel-culture discourse, can't easily comprehend the nuance of humans doing humans things, because we are so used to only being shown the best or the worst of everything.
So maybe this movie really does live up to its name, maybe it's not that good. But it's unconventional, and I think that's okay.
Our protagonist, Danni Sanders, is by conventional standards indeed unlikeable. But by the end, we learn that this movie is not conventional.
Starting off as a typical Netflix-like, influencer-driven, TikTok-inspired film, one could not be faulted entirely by sighing and rolling their eyes, wishing for it to end abruptly. Unfortunately, by the time the movie actually does end abruptly, you will have changed your mind.
Danni, our protagonist, is initially very likeable. She's sweet, fun, and easily entertained. But like many of the kids and adults of today's generation, she is lonely, depressed, and only just surviving.
After a fated comical run-in, leading her to smoking a copious amount of marijuana to impress the hip influencer Colin, she gets the idea to fake a trip to Paris for internet clout. While her online deception initially goes well, her story, and therefore her false online story, takes a turn for the worse after a terrible bombing takes place in actual Paris.
Stuck between coming clean and seeing the opportunity for even more internet clout, she doubles down on her lie and fakes being a victim, which works in her favor. At this point, you're not repelled by her morally decrepit actions, nor are you happy for her. You're simply just observing.
But through out the movie, the more she doubles down on her lies, the more we double down on her. Every time she one-ups her falsehood, we become more invested.
Through her support group, which she initially signed up for to get inspiration for her article, she meets Rowan, an actual survivor, and the two grow close. Danni's online manipulation is obviously terribly wrong, you can't help but feel for her when she finally gets what she wants: a friend.
Danni's fabrication continues on until a coworker of hers, Harper, catches on to her lies and confronts her about it.
This is where the movie's obligatory point-of-no-return rears it expectedly unexpected head. Danni is the one in the wrong, of course, but it is Harper who comes across as the villain, even though she is the one seeking justice and truth.
But why is this? Why do we care for the one in the wrong?
One of my favourite moments in movies is where a piece of dialogue, monologue, foreshadowing, whatever it may be, shows itself in a way that intentionally goes over the audience's head on the first viewing. But this little hint actually cuts through all the artistic fluffing and gets to the core of the creator's idea, the movie's message.
This movie has that, and it comes about 3/4's of the way through. It is casually disguised as a joke in a conversation between Danni and Rowan, after some firecrackers triggers our the protagonist's aforementioned friend's trauma, leading to her staying at the hospital.
There, Danni messes up a saying by Rowan, unintentionally switching around two words. This act of unintentionality is actually very intentionally speaking the film's core message directly to the viewer: "the internet loves turning villains into victims."
Now clearly, it is the other way around. Conventionally, it is. But as mentioned before, this movie is not conventional. Because by the end, Danni exposes herself, which leads to hate, shame and even death threats. But we can't help but feel bad for her. Why?
Because villains aren't villains. It isn't that clear cut. Villains are all victims in their own way. Danni never meant to hurt anybody, she was only lonely, depressed, and looking for a friend. She found a way to get out of that, albeit a very vile way. When she is hated more than ever, we, the audience, love her more so.
It's like the old Greeks. They loved tragedy and very often put on acts that depicted tragedy befalling a likeable character. They believed witnessing such tragedy was important, so the public could learn to cultivate empathy for those who needed it most.
Reading the other reviews on the movie, it seems the consensus is that the movie did not have a message, or it flew over their heads. Maybe the movie doesn't have a message. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Or maybe it's because this is a Greek tragedy disguised as a bland, feature-length Instagram Reel. This movie isn't telling the story of a hero beating a villain, it's telling the story of a broken woman seeking friendship in her own broken way, leading to her own downfall.
And we, in a postmodern age of black-and-white, good-or-bad cancel-culture discourse, can't easily comprehend the nuance of humans doing humans things, because we are so used to only being shown the best or the worst of everything.
So maybe this movie really does live up to its name, maybe it's not that good. But it's unconventional, and I think that's okay.