Disconnect (2013)

This move seemed to have a pretty slow lead up with multiple subplots. Unfortunately things didn't come together well and I certainly wouldn't say this keeps you on the edge of your seat. Disappointing ending to a lackluster buildup

Cindy (Paula Patton) and Derek Hull (Alexander Skarsgård) are struggling with the lost of their baby. Cindy gets help online while Derek is closed off. They get financially hacked with their identities stolen. They hire former cop Mike Dixon (Frank Grillo) to investigate and he zeroes in on Stephen Schumacher. Mike's son Jason and his friend Frye are pranksters. They start catfishing classmate Ben Boyd. Ben's parents Rich and Lydia (Jason Bateman, Hope Davis) are not connecting with him. Ambitious TV reporter Nina Dunham (Andrea Riseborough) starts chatting with online sex worker Kyle (Max Thieriot) and meets him to do a story. Kyle is part of a group of young and some underage people working online sex. When the FBI shows up, the media company calls up lawyer Rich Dixon.It's a little bit overdramatic at times. These are harrowing tales of lost privacy and disconnected internet connections. The reporter's story is possibly the weakest. The reporter is not that compelling. The catfishing is probably the most powerful. The movie can be overwrought. It goes for the worst case scenario and the audience can't be surprised by any of the turns. The interconnected nature keeps the story moving. The overall feel does leave a disturbed uncomfortable sense. There are some good actors here doing compelling work.

It is REALLY a very good movie. I watch it 3 years after it was released and its relevance to our existing society is very represented to what the movie is telling us. Human physical connection is intensely deprive nowadays its now replaced by a concept of ubiquitous, redundant instant feeling of connection-ess that we design to in the first place to make us feel we can replace human emotions of being sad, loved, happy in a click of a button.A educational media to know how crimes and loopholes in the internet is being exploited and how the government is tracing and correcting it down. It explains clearly what internet can do and can affect to our lives in just a mere post or info shared that we thought are harmless can do on a global scale.

I was looking for a diversion and a reason to keep my HBO Now account, now that GOT has ended and I ran across this movie. I read some reviews before I watched it and expected a movie worth my while, but I have to say that I was riveted to my seat throughout the entire movie and found it entertaining, thoughtful, on point, well acted, well directed, properly paced and thought provoking. The ending slow motion sequence was a work of art. I highly recommend a viewing. If you have HBO and haven't seen this movie, then you need to. You won't have to wrap your mind around it to the point of frustration like the current season of True Detective. This movie reminds me of Crash, but I like this movie more. This movie is more relevant given that I have a teenage daughter and I myself spend many hours online. I just can't believe it did so poorly at the box office. Movies like this are one of the only reasons I keep my HBO Now subscription, because there have been so many similar gems that I have discovered that I would never even considered watching on Pay Per View.