not_an_octopus

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is set up like any other true crime doc with an undeniably bizarre twist and completely infuriating ending. I had to turn it off after the perpetrator is revealed and promptly minimizes their involvement.

The perpetrator tries to blame their behavior on childhood trauma, and no expert opinion is provided as an explanation. It's all anecdotal. The doc also never challenges the perp's belief that their trauma justifies their behavior, as though millions of other people haven't also suffered childhood trauma yet somehow manage to NOT harass and threaten others. I'm sure most viewers are smart enough to draw this conclusion, but the way the story is told leaves a lot to be desired in the way of rational discourse on what happened.

The way the mystery was set up felt like a weird lead-on. The way the events are recounted is intentionally deceptive, which is insulting as a viewer. Great job Netflix, you got me to watch your mysterious documentary! Good for you!!

But there really wasn't any meaningful story or outcome beyond the sensationalism of what happened, which feels extremely exploitative to the victims.

This doc felt exploitative and overly sensationalized, and had almost no resolution at the end. It felt like a soulless way to tell an extremely troubling story that negatively affected a lot of people. This doc will be quickly forgotten, meanwhile the victims' lives will be forever affected. If I had participated in this doc I would be furious at the way they chose to tell the story, especially with regard to the way they allow the perpetrator to minimize and justify their involvement.

Back to the Frontier has an interesting premise which usually works, but which relies on a certain amount of authenticity and believability in order to give it substance over style. But this series does not come across as believable or authentic.

Scenes are heavily scripted, drama is manufactured, and it's obvious that most of the work is being done for them behind the scenes. Where are they getting all the extra help and why isn't it talked about? Wood and planks to build walls are magically produced and measured exactly to the required size, so that all that's needed is to hammer them in place. There were some excessively long scenes involving plowing fields in which the horses are harnessed up behind the scenes and controlled by a wrangler who is never introduced. Why wouldn't they introduce us to the helpers? Another major story line involves one family needing an extra bed, and lots of talk about needing to build the bed happens, which the father procrastinates, until he finally "builds" a bed that looks like it came from Homestead IKEA. It's obvious he didn't do anything but place tab A into slot B. It would have been more interesting to see how the consulting homesteaders helped supplement the families and how much work THAT entailed.

Regarding authenticity, why wouldn't they allow the families to just be themselves instead of giving them scripts? Unimaginative reality show writing replaces actual human interactions, trying to prolong drama where none would otherwise thrive. The writers attempt to make so many characters unlikeable, especially the teenage girls (which felt extremely sexist). I actually liked everyone in the cast so much better when they were just being themselves. Why manufacture drama into the series when the drama of being a homesteader writes itself?

The worst and most cringy element of uninspired reality scripting was the way the producers thought the audience needed to be introduced to the teenage girls, who at first were portrayed as only concerned with their appearance, makeup, and instagram. It's clear there was WAY more to them than this, and I found them quite endearing and sweet; completely the opposite of shallow. No one magically changes personalities like that just because they went to a homestead. Maybe if the clichéd uninspired basic reality show script writers had stereotyped the boys during their introductions, MAYBE that would have balanced it out. But the blatant sexism tells me everything I need to know about the soulless people making this series.

There was a lot of potential here, but interference from the committee of reality show writers made it too cringe, fake, and insulting to enjoy.

Together is a genuinely creepy body horror. It's not usually a genre of horror that I seek out, but I watched this for the two leads. Starring real-life married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco, Together takes us through a squeamish and creepy journey of a couple with issues that can creep into any relationship.

The writing is really good, portraying the leads as a couple who clearly love one another but can't figure out how to escape their issues. Once the involvement of a supernatural entity is involved it's clear there is no hope, and the viewer is left watching helplessly as the conclusion races towards its inevitable end.

My only critique is at that it times feels like the narrative or pacing is missing something; some scenes that expanded on the lore would have been impactful. They did a little of that, but it would have been fun to see more.

Overall Together doesn't pull any punches when it comes to Alison and Dave delivering raw and authentic performances that seamlessly navigate themes of codependency, resentment, tenderness, disgust, and even humor.

If you like body horror and the actors in the film I think you will find Together to be quite engrossing.