Disconnect (Henry-Alex Rubin,2012); USA Draft

Review by Linda Mccomb  Viewed at the Arlington Theater

Disconnect is a documentary that tells the stories of three different individuals and the impact the Internet has on their lives. The first story is of a young boy who gets cyber bullied, a couple whose identity gets stolen and a young adult who makes his money by taking his clothes off online.

The young adult is a runaway and he does whatever anyone pleases online, usually in some sort of sexual form. A reporter befriends him so she can write a story about him in hope of helping him and other teens that that are being exploited. The couple in this film has just lost a child and they are having trouble dealing with their loss. The wife is not getting enough support from her husband so she turns to an online support group. She talks to someone and ends up planning to meet in person. Before they do however, she realizes she has become the victim of an identity theft and her bank account has been completely emptied. The couple become closer and work through some of their grief due to this financial disaster they have to face together.The last story tells the tale of a young boy who is the victim of some cruel cyber bullying. The film focuses on the boy who gets bullied as well as the boy who does the bulling. This is a topic that has unfortunately become all too familiar in today’s media and is very relevant to the struggles of many young people today.The film deals with the complexity of all the characters really well.

This is a film that tells stories that so many people can relate too today. It does a great job at portraying the real feelings and struggles these individuals suffer through and the stories are tied together in a way that is easy to follow and keeps the viewer engaged.

I liked this film a lot and would recommend it.