Cinematography:
Adam KrulišComposer:
Jonatán PastirčákCast:
Sabina Dlouhá, Anežka Pithartová, Tereza Těžká, Vít Klusák, Barbora Chalupová, Jan Vlček, Barbora Potužníková, Michaela Petriláková, Kateřina Kroupová (more)VOD (1)
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Everyone knows something like this is happening. But this is the only experiment to fully demonstrate what excessive openness on the internet means. The filmmaking couple hired youthful-looking (but over 18) actresses to pretend to be prepubescent girls and communicate with strangers who approached them based on their fake accounts. They attracted dozens of men in the first ten days, then hundreds, and finally thousands. The numbers of those looking for sexual satisfaction from the interactions are shocking. Most of the middle-aged men stopped at nothing to lure the supposed children into sending them photos or videos. And after weeks of online communication, there was even a personal meeting, held under the watchful eye of hidden bodyguards. What are sexual predators capable of? (One World)
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Reviews (10)
Well, the fact that the Internet is full of predators and it should be clear to all parents that their spawn should be careful in these waters. Those who don’t get it had better not have children, as they’d clearly be useless in protecting them against external threat. But I felt much worse when I put myself in the shoes of a typical predator. Can't a guy show his dong to a hot twelve-year-old without having to worry about it being a nasty scam, with an entire film crew watching, and the girl actually being at least twenty years old? Ew, I'd feel like a gerontophile! But, on a more serious note; I don't mind when a film is disgusting, I’m not in the habit of avoiding porn (what a nice euphemism I came up with) but watching this didn’t make me feel easy at all. It was intense and hats off to all three "twelve-year-olds" for how they managed to bear it and the creator for a really worthwhile idea. A powerful experience and a clear five stars, I'm just not sure if some parents will realize that the fault is not only with those mental cripples...
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A horror documentary. It’s horror not because such “predators” exist, but because of HOW MANY of them exist. What’s the response to that? Track down and lock up thousands or even tens of thousands of men, who are often probably fathers and the breadwinners of their families? That probably won’t work. But perhaps the hype that has grown up around this film will put the brakes on their outrages, at least for a couple of years. Klusák and Chalupová handled it superbly. I appreciate the ideas such as the clarification of the “nice face” to the strains of pleasant music and the last scene, which takes the escalating tension of the whole film to an emotional level, until the viewer’s hands tremble together with those of the filmmakers in front of the camera.
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No matter what anyone says, this is a documentary that really makes sense. According to public feedback, it seems to be opening people's eyes. The most shocking thing to me is to find out how many perverts and sexual predators are around underage girls on social media. Unfortunately, the internet age is already choosing its victims and society should be careful not to make them too big. (85%)
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Klusák is on top, this time also thanks to his progressive student Barbora Chalupová. I told myself that after crushing the moral cripple who has been prime minister for some time now, there is not really any room left to go anywhere, that there is no place to find stronger opponents, and the parody elegy about a bald, uncouth man who receives an educational soda in the middle of Auschwitz somehow confirmed this. But now comes this punch to the gut. To accuse the director of having an over-inflated ego at a time when Czech documentaries probably don’t have a stronger personality is more of a poor construct than a useful criticism. They could have sat in three little rooms instead of building three fakes in the middle of a hall, but if you have strong filmmaking ambitions, the question is not why, but how. And it serves a purpose. Even if you teach civics and computer science, when cybersecurity is on your mind, you know from hints what kids are looking at on the internet today, so you probably know what you'll be dealing with. But Caught in the Net goes far beyond the ordinary imagination. The concentrated moral bottom crammed into a hundred minutes, in which every excuse for a relieved laugh is accompanied by a feeling of inadequacy, will mix your feelings quite a bit. However, the dramatic arc works well, managing to encompass both the documentary process itself and the regular tension, which is almost unbearable when sitting down and drinking a lemonade. I was curious about the ending, the point, which must necessarily lead to education. However, the final interview describes all the dirt in three minutes without any hint of a moral extension. The subtitles, tears on the edge of my eyes, heavy legs, and an uncontrollable urge to be home immediately and hug my own child. And a double shot of alcohol. Nothing more important will pass through Czech movie theaters this year.
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Although I still can't get rid of the impression that there was primarily calculation in Caught in the Net, but when the result is ultimately what it is, I can't even hold it against the creators. If the situation is really one that surprised parents (as well as documentary-makers) don't realize the danger lurking for children on the internet, they need not only to be told, but in fact shown. And it's a really ugly and disturbing spectacle, and in places very suggestive from my point of view. I take my hat off mainly to the trio of actresses, but it's too bad that Anežka Pithartová got probably the least space, because I think she “played" the best with the callers. Her seemingly innocent questions did not have the slightest chance of peeking through, but the viewer, who knows what is going on, could perhaps enjoy how refined the traps are and the hunting accuracy the actress places them.
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