The Social Dilemma
netflixForget the latest Blumhouse horror film, The Social Dilemma is the scariest movie of the year. A real-life Black Mirror episode, director Jeff Orlowski’s blend of documentary and dramatic recreation is a potent look at the venomous effects of social media on today’s society. The film couldn’t be more timely or more relatable as it interrogates what has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue since the founding of Facebook: what’s the real problem with social media?
Although Orlowski constructs his film in a more or less formulaic manner, the overall effect is more convincing than most argumentative documentaries. And the film, which debuted on Netflix, could have the potential to affect real change, if only enough people see it.
The primary reason for the film’s persuasiveness lies in the subjects that are interviewed. The majority of the film’s talking heads are not academics or scholars or regular citizens. Instead, they are former executives, creators, founders and presidents of the very companies the film is critiquing. It’s an impressive assemblage of people who were in the rooms where the technology was created, and to see them speaking out against the creations that earned them status is nothing short of powerful. One of the film’s most poignant moments features one former techie bemoaning the fact that he had become addicted to the very app he programmed. It’s an arresting scene that points to a larger issue the documentary explores: the algorithms have evolved by themselves, beyond what their creators intended.
Orlowski is very clear on this point – there’s no one person to blame, and the interviewees are adamant that they never thought about any potential negative consequences of their tech. Without a central human antagonist, The Social Dilemma plays very much like an A.I.-centered episode of Black Mirror, complete with three different Vincent Kartheiser robots standing in for the algorithm, in a twisted version of Inside Out. However tacky that may sound on paper, it actually works well within the context of the film, creating a visual to go along with complex explanations of the ways in which various social media algorithms manipulate human nature.
What doesn’t work, as far as the dramatic portions of the film are concerned, are the scenes featuring the impact of social media on young teens portrayed by Skyler Gisondo and Sophia Hammons. While at first they provide interesting SNL-type humour, they quickly become redundant and, when used in the place of real-life documentary footage, drain the film of some of its power. While it was an admirable attempt to spice up the typical documentary format on the part of the filmmakers, these scenes could have been executed slightly better.
Fortunately, the drama parts of this docudrama make up a relatively small portion of the film. Everything else in The Social Dilemma is equally absorbing and bone-chilling. This is an in-depth look at an issue most people think they already know everything about. It’s common knowledge at this point that social media, and phones in general, are addictive, but what this film excels at is explaining just why that’s so bad. Orlowski makes a pretty good case that social media is destroying society, affecting everything from teen suicide rates to election interference to political polarisation. There were a number of factors involved in the 2016 presidential election, but after watching The Social Dilemma, one could easily blame Facebook and its compatriots for Donald Trump’s win.
The Social Dilemma’s scope is sweeping, but Orlowski and editor, Davis Coombe somehow manage to form their arguments succinctly and guide the audience through a web of interconnected societal malaises. Assisted by a score from Mark A. Crawford that alternately sounds like it belongs in a horror movie and echoes Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s work on The Social Network, the film is consistently engaging and compelling from start to finish.
There are no hiccups in this streamlined, under 90-minute doc, and in fact that sometimes hampers the film from achieving its true potential. Some moments are so seismic and thought-provoking that they beg for reflection, but The Social Dilemma’s rapid pace grants its audience no respite.
Nevertheless, The Social Dilemma’s harrowing message is practically essential viewing during a time in which society has never been closer to the breaking point. This film has the power to make its audience think twice about the apps they take for granted, and for that alone, it’s worth seeing.
