I mean it’s pretty surface level and shallow if you ask me and doesn’t really go beyond a very basic “phones are bad” narrative.

It’s pretty melodramatic too. Phones and the internet in general can and do have a negative effect on society but they can also have a massive positive effect too.

I get that to have a narrative you need to exaggerate a little but scenes like the one where people are all taking photos of their dinner don’t happen outside of the world of Instagram.

Other things like the scene of hundred of people just scrolling while on the train, sure, that happens, but it’s not like people didn’t do exactly the same thing with newspapers, and books, and novellas, and so on. It’s not indicative of social media addiction.

Then there’s the police brutality scene at 0:13. I take some issue with this scene in particular. I get that the message is that “too many people just stand by and watch and film for social media” but for a start, it’s incredibly important to document social injustice and shout it from the rooftops when oppressive systems are being used for violent ends. Granted, its another exaggeration from the storyteller but still not perhaps a fair one in my mind.

There are scenes I do like though, and I think they’re fairly poignant. For example 1:12 of the woman being filmed dancing which presumably goes viral and results in her being ostracised. Going internet famous without concent, willing, or participation is terrible and giving the general public a way to just force that on someone without their permission is terrible and I wish/hope there is something we can do to combat this.

The thing I take issue with really is that the film takes aim at the most basic and surface level issues, as well as several non-issues. While not a problem in itself, there’s a lot you can say about these issues which isn’t being said. The author seems more to lay the blame at the feet of the general public and not the massive media corporations and data farms for not only building the framework, but tuning the system for maximum engagement, maximum profits, and maximum retention at the cost of anything else.

On that note, a very obvious and serious issue that wasn’t touched upon is radicalisation through social media. Maybe it’s my syndical side firing here but that to me sounds like the writer going for the easy and safe issues to take aim at and deciding not to pick at that particular thread incase It causes a flame war. Ironically mirroring the people I mentioned in the restaurant scene who were so focused on their meal they didn’t even notice a slaughter truck going straight past.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s very well made, it’s clear the animator put in a lot of effort to make it look nice and flow well, and while the message isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s also not especially deep or impactful and leaves a lot unsaid.