Nev Schulman is a young successful New Yorker who’s looking for love, and the perfect circumstances. By chance, Nev finds what sounds, and feels like just that; that sublime connection that changes life when he meets Megan Faccio (who lives in Michigan) through Facebook.
Megan’s little sister possesses an uncanny ability to paint at the tender age of eight, and through frequent business correspondences with Nev, who works in the artistic industry, Megan, Abby (Megan’s protégé sister) and even their mother Angela all form a close bond with Schulman.
Nev and Megan connect on a deep romantic level, and Nevs attachment reaches borderline obsession. Oddly enough, Megan seems equally infatuated, and as the exchanges between the two become more frequent (as well as risqué), a meeting begins to feel inevitable; But when Nev finally attempts to arrange a meeting between the two, the story shifts to the left, hard and fast.
Tracking Megan down becomes quite a challenge and makes for a few extremely interesting scenes. In one specific shot, Nev, Ariel and Henry ask Megan (who’s a musician as well as dancer) to record them a song. They pick the song, and within 30 minutes Megan’s emailed them back with a version of the song. It’s initially just perceived as amazing, but the more the three think about it, the stranger it seems. After a little more research, the guys realize none of the music Megan has on her site is her own, they’re all someone else's recordings, with her name attached.
Of course the warning bells sound, and the beginning of finding out who Megan Faccio really is begins immediately.
From this point forward the story shifts from a romantic comedy to bona fide mystery in seamless fashion. Huge respect is due for an excellent editing job, as viewers experience the transition without any herky-jerky chops whatsoever. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost’s simple shooting methods effectively intensify the curiosity behind the feature without having to rely on much technical magic.
A search finally turns up “Megan”, but Nev and the guys are about to learn that the internet is the perfect breeding ground for deceit and fantasy. The only question left is what level of danger they may now face.
Catfish is a gripping journey that explores the highs and lows of society. It’s a movie that forces you to confront and separate fact from fiction, and learn that reality runs far deeper than perception. Fortunately for these young filmmakers, it’s also wildly entertaining.
