Talhotblond

There is nothing I enjoy more than compelling real life stories, and this is certainly one. The story is disturbing and fascinating in equal measure. It details an almost unbelievable chain of events, which results in one man (Thomas Montgomery) carrying out a brutal and unforgivable act, fuelled by obsession and temporary madness. The film tells us how he got to that stage, in his own words. As well as interviews with him, there are insights from clinical psychologists, attorneys, and various law enforcement officials, and the other key figures in the story. (I will not say more about who these 'key figures' are as I do not wish to give it away.) But their honesty during their interviews is commendable and very much adds to the credibility of the film. To my mind, this is clearly what inspired the fake "real life" documentary 'Catfish'. In fact I would go so far as to say Catfish totally ripped this off, and threw in a few elements of 'My Kid Could Paint That' for good measure. Anyway, this film is definitely one to watch. It is a stark warning of the perils of the online world and is also of interest to people who enjoy learning about the human psyche and criminal psychology. Highly recommended.

This documentary was incredibly disappointing. The story definitely piqued my interest after watching CATFISH, but after only 20 minutes I was incredibly bored with its presentation and, especially, the narration.

It's put together like an incredibly cheesy story, the way it's narrated by one of the people involved makes it feel unauthenticated and overplayed. I found myself rolling my eyes quite a few times, "She started sending me photos... and, well, you can guess where it went from there".

I feel that documentaries work best when facts are presented in an interesting and creative way, usually in a way in which you can make your own conclusions. My first thought was that Montgomery was a disgusting man, but I really tired of the film telling my this over and over again.

When the monotone voice claims "Wow, so intense", I have to laugh. I can't say this documentary was for me, maybe it will be great for those who maybe prefer something that resembles a dramatic reading, or a lifetime movie.

Overall, I found it boring, cliché, cheesy, and rather annoying. Perhaps I prefer documentaries when the narrator is not playing the part of a character, and is stating facts and setting the scene, rather than relaying emotions with corny, monotone fluff sentences.

The premise of this film interested me, as I met my share of posers on the Internet when I first got online. Frankly, I didn't expect much more than your run of the mill Investigative Discovery segment, so I was busy doing other things online when the film started. I was not prepared to be immediately sucked in by its intensity. The very first comments by the narrator engaged me completely. The use of soft, tender music instead of the usual suspenseful choices in a crime presentation lulls the viewer right into the relationship between Jessi and Tommy and keeps you there. It beautifully augments the slowly rolling instant messages that draw the development of the relationship. The rhythm of the two together tinted the exchanges with a reflective eeriness that gives the viewer enough time to read, absorb and experience the eeriness of the whole situation. And the discovery at the end just blew my mind. A thoughtful and disturbing film that leaves you breathless and thinking.

Love it or hate it, this documentary holds a mirror up to a dark, disturbing side of humanity. Of course you can choose to accept or reject that this lies within us collectively, but make no mistake, the director artfully tells a story that rates as one of "strangest but true" ever. The kind of story that evokes such emotion from the user who called this movie "awful" ... it's that good. On the technical side, the music selected for the soundtrack fits well. The narrator's POV is very effective, and the pacing has the gradual build up that makes the climactic point that much stronger. The story itself is the find of a lifetime for a writer. It could easily have been mistreated, but in the director's hands, comes out as a documentary masterpiece.

"She unleashed a fantasy online that was addictive as any drug, and as lethal as any bullet."

Like the somewhat similar documentary Catfish, Talhotblond is a real-life story about how easy it is to hide behind a fictional identity online, and the problems that can result from such deceit. 

Talhotblond is an example of a worse case scenario of Internet deceit. A dangerous love triangle started online ends up in a murder and the destruction of several lives. Interviews from the people involved, psychiatric experts, and the law authorities who eventually became involved, paint a disturbing picture of manipulation and lies that is unfortunately all too true. 

If you're interested in the subject, check it out.