Reviews

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  ★★★★½ review by Foggy Pebble on Letterboxd

  A short and very well made documentary about brainwashing, I mean, internet addiction.
  
  This made me so sad.

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  ★★★½ review by Juan Bacaro on Letterboxd

  "Trainspotting" conoce a "Men, Women & Children".

  No deja de ser bizarro que existan centros de rehabilitación para adictos a internet. Por lo general, se trata de adolescentes solitarios y fanáticos de los video-juegos.

  Este breve documental recopila la historia de varios de ellos y la rutina dentro de este centro curativo en Beijing. Se trata de una película dramática, emotiva y cautivante sobre unos cuantos infaustos adeptos a la red. Como ya hay millones.

  Entre estos jóvenes chinos presos y los autorecluídos japoneses (los denominados "hikikomori") hay un gran margen, pero de causales idénticos y que cada vez cobran mayor atención en el mundo del cine. "Web Junkie" es otro capítulo más que se impone a los tiempos y sale al rescate denunciando la paradoja de la tecnología y la comunicación.

  Aquí se pone de manifiesto como el inevitable atractivo visual, la extravagancia y la democraticazión de la digital-media pueden llegar a causar estragos en el autoestima de jovencitos poco atendidos. Siendo este el cimiento de un futuro -y grave- desorden mental.

  Posiblemente en el cine la soledad sea la materia más concerniente a tratar en los años venideros. Como, de hecho, ya está sucediendo. Eso solía decirme mi profesora de guionismo.

  ---------------------------------------------------------

  P.d. También el documental abre una diminiuta brecha como para sospechar sobre los mecanismos aplicados en este centro de rehabilitación controlado por el mismo gobierno chino, conocido, entre muchos otros aspectos, por aplicar censura en internet y regular contenidos -de índole político-.

  O al menos, esa suposición se asomó por mi cabeza un par de veces.

  Por si quieren seguir adictos → webjunkiemovie.com/

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  ★★★★½ review by ristubasan on Letterboxd

  Really interesting footage, really disturbing. The institution where the boys live appears at times to be inventing therapy techniques as it goes along, and for example I can't help but wonder about the effects of lengthy isolation on boys whose internet addictions are brought on in part by intense loneliness - it seems like a particularly cruel punishment rather than a means to self-discovery. The most effective footage is that taken in family therapy sessions - the parents clearly struggling to comprehend how the boys feel, the boys struggling to communicate in the artificial environment they have been placed in, mostly against their will and sometimes through some form of coercive behavior from their parents. I had expected a film about internet addiction; what I saw was a film offering tantalizing glimpses into a wider social malaise of which internet addiction is really only a symptom. It is a pity the film-makers did not have access outside the hospital as well, because that is where the real stories are playing out.

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  ★★★★★ review by orc on Letterboxd

  An interesting take on how China deals with internet addiction. A really solid documentary. Not only if you are a gamer but if you're online all the time you should definitely check this documentary out.

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  ★★★★½ review by Jamel Chhedi on Letterboxd

  This was a really interesting watch. It gives a complex picture of how lonely Chinese kids become addicted to online gaming, but it also tries to dig deeper in the relationship to the parents and pokes at China's one-child policy, which creates huge expectations in parents for their only child.

  Big recommendation if you like observation style docs, without talking heads explaining everything...

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