An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but my youngest daughter suggested I should check it out. Well, it turned out to be a decent Netflix true crime documentary, no more and no less than that. To be honest, I actually figured out that the perpetrator must be an adult almost right away. It also made sense that it would be a parent of either Lauryn or Owen but the way it was cleverly constructed made it seemed at first rather unlikely. I have noticed that some of viewers were shocked that Kendra Licari, the actual catfisher, was given so much screen time in this documentary but, in my opinion, it was actually one of its strengths. Indeed, when you watch such documentaries, you don’t expect the actual perpetrator to be interviewed at length like it was here. Of course, the woman was just batsh*t crazy, some kind of really toxic narcissist, and the way she seriously downplayed everything she did was just baffling. I was also stunned by the scene during which she was caught. Not by her, but by Lauryn’s behavior. Indeed, you would have expected her to either burst in tears or go completely ballistic but she seemed so numb. Maybe she was in shock? It was also intriguing that she seemed to really forgive her mother almost right away but I think it was very noble from her. However, it also displayed the mental grip she had on the poor girl. Some viewers also complained that it took the police so long to trace these messages but it is easier said than done. In fact, in case of cyberbullying, the police usually doesn’t do anything (that’s why so many people can get away with such awful things online). I had a colleague who was harassed online by an ex-girlfriend and, even though he knew who it was, even though he brought some evidence to the police, they did nothing because she didn’t actually literally physically threaten him. I was more amazed that neither Lauryn or Owen wouldn’t simply get rid off their phones. I mean, when I was their age, the damned things didn’t even exist and we were fine. Just do something else with your free time, go for a walk, read a book or something and, above all, protect your mental health in the process. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was not bad though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

6/10