New to DVD and VOD this week:
SOCIAL ANIMALS
Director:
Jonathan Ignatius Green
Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
Newport Beach, SF DocFest, Kansas City
About:
An exploration of the impact of social media on three teenagers.
The only thing that immediately links the protagonists of Jonathan Ignatius Green’s semi-cautionary tale is their interaction with Instagram. The likeable NYC-based Humza has achieved social media notoriety with his urban exploring posts, though he attracts a level of unwanted attention as well. Irritating LA rich girl Kaylyn obsessively builds up her “brand.” Ordinary girl Emma, meanwhile, faces online bullying in rural Ohio. Green’s project is well-produced and fittingly well-shot, but as a whole it suffers from its split focus. While Humza’s thread potentially could have carried the movie on its own, Kaylyn’s is simply vapid, and Emma’s overly familiar, lessening the doc’s overall affect.
what (not) to doc 