Documentary
United States of America
Catfish is a 2010 documentary film directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. It follows the story of Nev Schulman, Ariel's brother, who meets a woman named Megan Faccio on Facebook and begins a long-distance relationship with her. The film documents Nev's journey to meet Megan in person and the shocking truth that he discovers about her identity.
Throughout the film, Nev also becomes close with Megan's family, including her mother Angela and Abby, her younger sister. Nev and his friends exchange messages with Megan and even speak with her on the phone, but they are not able to arrange a meeting in person. Eventually, Nev becomes suspicious of Megan's identity and decides to investigate.
Nev, along with his friends Ariel and Henry, travel to Michigan to meet Megan in person and uncover the truth about her. Upon arriving at Megan's address, they discover that she is not who she claimed to be and that the photos and conversations they had with her were all fabricated.
The filmmakers continue their investigation and are eventually led to Angela, a woman who had been using a fake profile to communicate with Nev. They confront Angela and she confesses that she fabricated the identity of Megan because she was unhappy with her life and wanted to create a more exciting persona online.
Catfish is a thought-provoking film that explores themes of identity, communication, and the dangers of social media. It received critical acclaim upon its release and inspired a TV series of the same name on MTV.
