Following the pattern of such successful smashes as Crash, Traffic, and Babel (all of which earned Best Picture nominations, with Crash winning the top prize), Henry Alex Rubin’s (Murderball) first non-documentary film, Disconnect is a movie that tells three distinct stories at the same time that have little connection with each other and only minor overlapping, but one in which many of its main actors are not on the screen at the same time. It’s a formula that, when done correctly, is magical but when done poorly, can be a disaster. Disconnect was done right. It is a daring movie and deals with not just one but three of the most prevalent technological safety issues of the day, which are cyberbullying, security fraud/identity theft, and the predatory practices of recruiting minors to become online porn performers. Each story could be its movie, but Disconnect does an awesome job of telling all three and showing the raw emotion associated with each. On top of that, the performances are top-notch. And while this movie came in at 68% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, it earned only $1.4 million at the box office. Both are much too low for a movie of this magnitude, officially classifying Disconnect as a hidden gem I think everyone should see.The second story deals with husband Derek (Alexander Skarsgard – Straw Dogs, What Maisie Knew) and wife Cindy (Paula Patton – 2 Guns, Deja Vu), a struggling couple doing their best to cope with the recent death of their only child. While Derek shuts himself off from the world, notably Cindy, his wife strikes up conversations with people she has never met in survivor chat rooms. Soon it is discovered that they have been the victims of identity theft, their credit cards maxed out, and the money in their bank accounts emptied. Already having to deal with a circumstance that no parents should ever have to deal with, Derek and Cindy are given the run around by the banks and insurance companies. They are told it could take weeks or months to track who is responsible for the fraud. In the meantime, they are struggling to make ends meet. Derek hires former cop Mike (Frank Grillo – End of Watch, Warrior), turned private detective specializing in Internet crimes, to expedite the process. With the hired help, he’s hoping the weeks and months can be expedited to a matter of days. However, he is not given the news he hopes for, which puts Derek even more on edge. On top of that, Mike provides the couple with a comprehensive report of their computers and accounts, resulting in Derek and Cindy learning things about each other that each hoped to keep a secret. This puts further strain on their relationship.
The final story deals with an ambitious reporter named Nina (Andrea Riseborough – Oblivion, Never Let Me Go), who is chasing the story of young sex models who pose and perform online for money. The story she tries to tell is well beyond her expertise as a reporter. And the promises she makes that she cannot possibly keep to everyone involved are enough to put her in danger. Basically, she wants an 18-year-old Internet sex model named Kyle (Max Thieriot – House at the End of the Street) to come forward and expose the predators who recruit boys and girls who start performing these online performers at a very young age.
Each of these stories is initiated through the means of technology. Whether it be chat rooms, instant messaging, social media sites, online pornography rooms, or whatever, there is little face-to-face interaction between the characters until the conflict becomes so great that further action is needed. The stories also each deal with important issues of the day. I’m uncertain why this movie didn’t get much more love. Perhaps it pulled at the heartstrings a little too much. I think many of us would like to shut ourselves from this world, but it is, undoubtedly, present. Each of the three stories was a little extreme but not far-fetched. By that, I mean that the result of each story certainly could happen, but these results are extreme and, fortunately, not the norm. Still, they are frequent enough and drastic enough that we can’t just turn a blind eye to these issues. With that said, there certainly was some Hollywood to this ending. But I don’t think you should let that deter you from the experience because Rubin tackled these issues head-on and didn’t try to sugarcoat anything.
The performances in this are top-notch all around. Even the teenagers were amazing. Bateman, Grillo, and Thieriot (in really his breakout performance) were fantastic. Every single character was flawed. If you took the main 12 characters and were told to rank them in order from least flawed to most flawed or vice versa, you’d probably readjust your list five or six times throughout the movie. Each was troubled. Each showed a dark side. Each showed a tender side as well. I hate a character one moment but like him/her the next. Again, this can be attributed to Rubin as a director. This movie, in the wrong hands, could have been a disaster. Fortunately, it was in the right hands, and thus, the result was a success.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 9.5/10
Hook and Reel 9.5/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
91%
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