"Not based on a true story, not inspired by true events. Just true."
Anonymous admiration and virtual identity become twisted in this documentary that shows a fortunate sequence of events, unraveling the illusive truth of a woman left alone with her fantasy.

Filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost became aware of the disentanglement of a story when they began to film the life of Ariel's brother, Nev. Little did they know their initiative would lead to the most thrilling and disturbing two months of their lives. 'Catfish' is a hair-raising reportage that reveals the ghastly genuineness of our times.

Young photographer Nev Schulman receives a surprising message from Abby, an eight-year-old girl in Michigan who had seen his picture in a newspaper and wanted permission to paint a portrait from it. Oblivious to the girl's intentions, Nev consents to what is to become an artistic relationship between this prodigy and the New York dupe. Later he even starts to approach Abby's family, apparently in doubt whether the girl would be a genius or a fraud, and somehow ends up in contact with Abby's sexy older sister, Megan. The two embark upon a long-distance romantic relationship, primarily through the social networking website Facebook. As we get a whole new insight on the internet generation, this movie is a must-see for the credulous 'Twittering' and 'Facebooking' youngsters whose beliefs are based on the idea that the net equals a real-life entity.

As the documentary progresses, Nev realizes his gadgets no longer suffice to progress with Megan and Abby, and decides to travel towards the gallery and houses the family communicated as theirs, but not without first coming to the knowledge of having received fake love songs and other false claims. Nev slowly sees his ideal partner fade away, making room for an enormous scare of the reality behind these profiles. What would happen if this relationship was based on fraud and lies? Who would be the one whispering soft songs in his ear and texting him private (ahum) messages? Would the paintings even be real?

The documentary takes the onlooker on an unexpected and surprising trip. The ingenious cutting technique and melodrama that is associated with the protagonist makes you not want to even aspire for the whole of the film: it is simply jaw-dropping. The endowment and flawless timing aroused the suspicion amongst various critics of the documentry being a hoax, with "Supersize Me" Morgan Spurlock stating it was the best fake documentary he had ever seen. All of this chit-chat appears to be inappropriate, and what's more, undeserved: no protagonists' vulnerability or even status (how ambiguous that might even sound in the networking context) would be more on the line than Nev's, showing and demonstrating his naivety in an accurate and direct way. The final product must have hit him hard in the face, such as it did the on-looker. I for one could not control the nodding and whispering advice during the whole of the feature.

But let us not spoil the experience: the less you know of the movie, the better it gets.

For more information on 'Catfish', visit http://www.iamrogue.com/catfish