i’m just really lonely. i’m just really lonely

utterly endeared to and devastated by this. loved the e-girl investigation, the use of internet meme as emotional shorthand, the communal witchy atmosphere. loved the ideas this puts forth about black girls searching for meaning and belonging, but simultaneously pained to watch that belonging get denied at every turn. bittersweet that a form of that rejection comes from another black woman, one who’s already been stripped of her autonomy and spent decades trying to reclaim it, who doesn’t want to be perceived or recognized, even by the people who might genuinely cherish her. this really encapsulates what it is to be a black girl in internet purgatory. so fascinating, so gutting

Note to first-time documentarians: the assumption that your audience is more interested in you than your subject is often an incorrect one.

i also grew up with mavis beacon and she also taught me how to type. the premise of this documentary is so intriguing, but there's an odd sense of entitlement and possessiveness the filmmakers have over a woman they don't know. it borders on manipulative at the climax of the film when the model for mavis beacon's son makes it pretty clear that his mother is not interested in being involved in the project and one of the filmmakers starts crying and essentially begging to speak with her. if this had been a fictional feature film, it might be genius, but this style of documentary often comes off as masturbatory rather than informative.

Genuinely, once they hit THAT dead end in their search, they should have realized this entire project needed to be scrapped. There is something so uncomfortable about the main characters in this... not being the woman who modeled for Mavis Beacon? I don't know; I just did not jive with the filmmakers at all, and their sense of entitlement to access someone else's life (Renée L'Espérance) or space (with the landlord giving them a free space to work out of).

I'm sure there's a good story somewhere in here, and there are fascinating parts, but as is, this entire thing would need a massive rework to be truly good. And, boy, is it confusing that Neon picked this thing up.

if you get it you fucking get it dude. the process and ephemera that go alongside the seeking are just as important as the sought. it’s vital that we to consider the structures (ie ‘colonial impulse’ as they put it) that permeate our minds when we want so badly to receive some sort of deliverable or prize for an experience. to deconstruct exactly how that leads to a satisfying or an unsatisfying ending for us, and why that is.

i’m obsessed w the modes of archive and research and editing!!!!!!!! i want to document like this.

have wanted to see this one since i first heard about it, i love an e-girl mystery!

excited to see more from both filmmakers in the future but there's always gonna be something uncomfortable about putting something into production before knowing whether your subject wants to be found or not -- reminds me a lot of the endless dialogue around missing richard simmons. but, jones and ross are asking a lot of questions about digital identity and aren't afraid to engage with this ethical discomfort.

the journey is worth it and it's refreshing to see a doc about tech made by internet natives! more women should be showing up at the houses of silicon valley cucks and asking questions.

A spiritual sequel to The Watermelon Woman I didn’t know we needed. A non-fiction coming of age parable for being Black and femme on the internet . Something like watching theory become practice in real time (shoutout to Hartman and critical fabulation). So much to say about memes as embodied knowledge, our parasocial relationships online, the right to opacity, Black folks relation to a tech-dominated society that needs us but doesn’t need us. What Jazmin, Olivia, and collaborators have crafted here is a very special, one of a kind film viewing experience that I can’t wait to re-watch and re-watch. Inspired and invigorating!

Gen Z detectives going rogue to find a fictional character. At first I was a bit confused but once I got in the groove of it I was fascinated and hooked.

I also gotta say this is one of the greatest movie posters ever. STUNNING!!