Catfish

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman tell a story of Schulman’s brother Nev, a Manhattan photographer, and his online relationship with an 8-year-old artist in Michigan, her mother and her sexy 19-year-old sister—until suspicions arise that he’s being stood against the Facebook wall. This so-called “documentary” (actually, we’re just watching a bunch of blown-up home videos and computer-screen captures) is technically puny but entertaining, and it made Joost and the Schulmans the darlings of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. But something doesn’t add up; details don’t bear scrutiny, and the filmmakers can’t hide their smug naughty-boy smirks. Are these guys on the level, or are we just being played? Is this an honest story about how easily they were suckered, or are we the ones being set up for suckers?