Very ambicious courtroom-techno-crime-drama-thriller that takes a hard look at society's obsession with true crime, while showing us the horrors happening on the dark web. At the center is a very mysterious and magnetic main character that I couldn't get enough of. The interactions between Kelly-Anne and Clémentine were the best parts, they're two completely different personality types that were a treat to disect on-screen.

The long take in the court room at the beginning was impressive and had flawless acting. The dialogue was on point and true to how people talk here in Québec. Beautiful score. Great acting all around. Pretty much the whole movie I kept thinking it was going in an obvious predictable way but not at all, it changed course a couple times.

Never actually showing the videos was the right choice, let imagination run it's course. Hearing the stories of the three girls through dialogue and seeing the character's reactions is better and maybe even more horrifying than anything they could have shown us through video.

It perhaps gets a little too ambicious in the second half and will probably lose a few but i'm satisfied with the end result. Very tense third act. The way it uses screens for the investigation and the tension in the third act reminded me of *Searching* (2018).

A good techno thriller, and probably a story we need in a world where dumb true crime podcasts are insanely popular, however it’s not told in the best way. I always appreciate when a director aims for long takes, but when these tracking shots aren’t filled with the most interesting blocking, framing or a tight flow of information, I don’t quite get the point. We’re still setting up new characters and relationships at the halfway mark because of these directorial choices. Did we really need this extensive courtroom introduction? It’s well acted and scripted, but I don’t think so. The story is set at some undisclosed point in the future, and because of that it gets away with some things that might feel too exaggerated in the present, however there are still a few moments where they’re clearly forcing dramatic movement. I didn’t give _Creed 3_ a pass for the scene where one of the characters interrupts a live television broadcast with a phone call, so I’m not going to do that here either. The deconstruction of our unhealthy obsession with serial killers I found a lot more interesting, leading to a few scenes that could be labeled as exploitative torture porn, however they’re handled tastefully and serve a bigger point. The director has a good grasp on what (not) to show, as well as how to use sound. The character development and arcs I also found quite satisfying, taking some turns in the third act that I didn’t quite expect. Overall, while I think it’s very flawed, they might’ve just hit on a formula here that could inform how serial killer films are tackled going forward.

5.5/10

There is no greater praise I can give a film than saying it kept me awake until midnight on a work night. I'd implore you to find this movie how I did; stumble into it by accident with as little knowledge as possible and just enjoy the ride.

-- Possible plot spoilers beyond this point --

A fascinating kaleidoscope of voyeurism, modern technology and the erosion of privacy; an open critique about how people have curtailed their own lives and personalities to obsess over those of others. Everything has lost all meaning, and when real connection is presented, it's alien and an annoyance. We’re constantly chasing the next thrill in relation to those we’ve become obsessed with, a parasocial nightmare in its most realistic depiction. We’ve handed our lives and thoughts over to digital entities at the price of ourselves, and while the main character remains an enigma, it’s hard not to see ourselves in her complete submission to her online fascinations.

It feels trite to compare this to Mr Robot, but I think the comparison cannot be left unsaid. The locked focus on technology, common hacking techniques and contemporary occupations as well as the grim, almost seedy feel of a recluse at the helm of a computer and an internet connection felt lifted directly from Sam Esmails playbook, and I enjoyed it just as much here as I did over there with Eliot and E Corp. I’m a sucker for these movies that show they have more than a surface understanding of how technology and hacking is done in the real world, and while some liberties are taken with the movie's AI assistant, it never feels hard to follow or get too overwhelming.

Such a great movie, one that I’ll keep around and watch again when the intricacies of the plot have begun to erode from my mind, only to be enthralled by it and its unhinged protagonist once again.