Catfish is a sort of kooky documentary with an offbeat vibe that is both mellow and thrilling. This odd combination is due to its characters (who all—Nev, Angela, and even Angela’s husband—have this mellow, placid thing going) and its fairly suspenseful plot. I don’t mean suspenseful or thrilling in the Alfred Hitchcock, sitting-at-the-edge-of-your-seat way. The suspense is more psychological. First, you wonder what’s really going on in this strange storyline. And once you figure it out, you’re left wondering about the roots and the causes of the characters’ actions. Loneliness, our need for love, our need for security, our ability to lie to ourselves—these are some of the aspects of the human psyche that can be studied in this film. Social media, with its various repercussions, play an important role, too. (Some may feel it is the most significant psychological/sociological factor in this documentary.)
I loved the film. But I do want to caution that it requires a certain capacity for “suspension of disbelief” to imagine that the story was filmed chronologically. The film worked for me regardless.
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