In an era on Internet anonymity, the possibilities for deception are endless. The internet gives free reign for a person to become anyone they want. “Catfish” answers the question ‘How far will someone go on the internet to be someone they’re not’.
Filmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost follow how this deception changes New York photographer Yaniv Schulman’s life in the new documentary “Catfish”, produced and developed by IAMROGUE productions and Universal Studios.
The documentary begins when Yaniv, Nev for short, receives a painting in the mail from a girl named Abby Wessleman. He begins a correspondence with this girl over a period of 8 months. During this period he begins dating Abby’s 19-year-old sister, Meghan. But during this relationship with Meghan, Nev begins to question some of the things told him about the Wessleman family. Unable to stand not knowing if he’s being lied to, Nev eventually flies halfway across the country to see he’s actually being lied to.
Throughout the entire film I couldn’t understand Nev’s continued interest in this girl and her family before he began to suspect they were lying. Most men in their 20’s don’t usually have long distance relationships with supposed 8-year-old girls, or at least the ones I know.
I would recommend this movie to others, but I think it’s a bit of a snooze post-climax. Once the secret has been revealed, it became just a sad story about a middle aged woman with no life
