Disconnect (Henry Alex Rubin, 2012): USA

Reviewed by Laura Wyatt. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 2013.

I just saw a really scary movie, scary because it was so plausible.

It follows the story of a runaway teen, a young couple struggling with the loss of their child and a 15 year old high school student. As expected, their lives ultimately intersect as the film progresses.

This movie couldn’t have been made 10 years ago because the technology that engulfs our lives wasn’t as prevalent.

First we meet the runaway, who sells himself on line. He plays an actor of sorts behind the anonymity of his computer screen. He will do whatever you want him to do, usually things of a sexual nature. He is free to be anyone he wants to be because he is protected by the fact no one knows his real name or location.  A reporter ends up befriending him so she can write about his story and the other teens caught up in this underground life led by so many runaway.

An attraction of sorts grows between them on line, each enjoying the others company to just talk. Once they meet in person, everything goes wrong. The reporter tries to save him when he isn’t sure he wants to be saved and we see they were better off being separated by by technology.

In the case of a young couple who has lost a child, you see they are having trouble coping, each grieving in their own way.  The wife needs more support than her husband can give and she turns to an on line support group. She ends up bonding with someone on line and they plan to meet. Before their encounter they are informed they have become victims of identity theft and their bank account has been emptied. Together she and her husband seek revenge on the perpetrator and this actually brings them closer together. They are forced to be with each other on long drives and during stake outs. They are able to start talking and seem to fall in love again, a rare victory in this movie.

We meet another high school teen who is the target of cyber bulling that goes too far. We see how cruel high-schoolers can be when they can taunt and lie behind anonymous texts and emails. This feels so real as we hear about these real life stories every day in the news.

The film does a very good job of setting up three simultaneous confrontations as all the participants come to an understanding of the events that have transpired to get them to where they are. We cut back and forth to the climax of the reporter being confronted by the teens pimp, the couple confronting the alleged identity thief and two fathers literally fighting for their teenaged sons. These all take place in slow motion which gives more tension to already tense scenes.

The script was dead on and could only have been written by a parent. There are so many messages about the freedom we have to tell  lies, invent new personalities and be ruthless while hiding behind an anonymous email address. There are no happy endings here but there are lessons to be learned. There are no new lessons here but this film shows you how real the dangers of anonymous communication can be.