In Disconnect Me, Australian filmmaker Alex Lykos switches off his smartphone and social media for 30 days in an experiment that will challenge audiences to question their own reliance on technology. Source: Australian Catholics.
This review begins with a solid recommendation. It is definitely an interesting and entertaining film that will do its audiences good.
Audiences who are not dependent on their social media may be interested and amused to see what happens. Audiences who are dependent, or co-dependent, might well be alarmed.
Lykos is personable, talking straight to camera and taking the audience into his confidence.
He explains what happens when he severs contact with his phone and social media. There is the sense of absence and separation, the need to know, not having his contacts instantly available (and the consequences of missing out on important calls), not being able to check the news, the weather at the touch of a button.
The audience is invited into his drama, its comic side effects, its exasperations, and all the time encouraged to make comparisons with their own lives.
Lykos has a physical check-up before taking on the 30-day challenge, with a doctor questioning him about his sleep patterns and concentration and noting the curvature of his spine. (Spoiler alert – the 30 days of not looking at a phone has some good physical repercussions.)
This is a fine example of the power of a documentary, presenting themes that are interesting and immediately relevant, plenty of facts and data, interviews with experts, but all presented in an engaging and enjoyable way.
Review by Fr Peter Malone MSC
Disconnect Me: Directed by Alex Lykos. 98 minutes. Rated PG (Mild themes and coarse language)
FULL REVIEW
Disconnect Me (Jesuit Media via Australian Catholics)
