Hard to describe what this film is about… several lives, that mostly have nothing to do with each other, but share the fact that the sheer existence of social networks and online applications has some form of severe impact on them. Much better conceived than the terrible “Catfish” some years ago, “Disconnect” is interested in the regular lives of its characters, and sees (as one would) connectivity as but one aspect in a person’s life. Some earn their living with the web (in web cam sex), some use it for pranks (suggesting to a classmate that he hooked up with a really hot chick), some are victims of cybercrime out seeking retribution (by chasing down the perpetrator in the midst of their broken marriage), some are out for the next big story for their media outlet (making promises that are hard to keep).
I liked “Disconnect” quite a bit because it has serious acting firepower, in particular with the talent of Alexander Skarsgård and Jason Bateman, but Frank Grillo as the indecently handsome online crime detective is also on good form.
The script does not pretend (as is sometimes fashionable in such movies) that “everything is connected”, but rather chooses to pick “examples on how you can mess up your own life and that of others, not just, but also by sitting at your computer for too long or in the wring mood”. The cruelty frequent among teenagers, the inability of families to cope with a loss, the vanity driving journalists … these do not require an online setting to make a compelling story, but if you add this component competently (and the script authors do), it sheds a light on modern life that is fascinating and a tad frightening.
thomas4cinema 