Everything you need to know and can expect from Clickbait – Netflix new thriller mini series.
In 2019, the Australian federal government sparked an investment opportunity with Netflix and gave the international streaming empire $4.9m to fund a new eight-part TV series, which was considered to be one of the first of many collaborations to provide the Aussie film industry with “a steady pipeline of work” and boost the economy over the course of its seven-month production schedule. Produced by Matchbox Pictures (ABC’s Glitch) with founding creator Tony Ayers, screenwriter Christian White (Relic, 2020) and director Brad Anderson (Fractured, 2019) at the forefront, Clickbait is finally complete and is scheduled to premiere this month on August 25th.
Clickbait – what can we expect
So before Clickbait is uploaded to our silver screens for all eyes to see, what can we expect? Well, if its name hasn’t already given you a pretty good idea, it should come as no surprise that it’s a techno-thriller about the inner-mechanics of social media. More to the point, it’s also about the dangers of living in a digital age and how easy it has become to be exposed, fooled or even hurt by those lurking online.
With its central cast starring Adrian Grenier (HBO’s Entourage), Zoe Kazan (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, 2018) and Betty Gabriel (Get Out, 2017), the story itself follows the sudden disappearance Nick Brewer (Grenier), who one day shows up in an Internet video battered, bruised and bleeding and states “I abuse women. At 5 million views, I die”. After witnessing the disturbing footage, Nick’s wife Sophie (Gabriel) and sister Pia (Kazan) set out to find him, only during their search, dark truths start to surface and the loving man they thought they once knew begins to feel more and more like a stranger.
Rewired For A New Generation
Like having a stone in your shoe, there’s an instant feeling of unease when contemporary films or television use social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter as a narrative hook. The lightning speed in which these technological giants are managing to shape our modern world is indeed unsettling, but their persistence is a result of our own dependency on the company they provide us with on a daily basis; it’s a tricky game that none of us would want to play until we realise we were always playing to begin with. Some will partake while others turn a blind eye, and Clickbait knows this in its bones.
The series is a social commentary on human nature – but more to the point, it’s a combination of two concerning ideas that make for an engrossing, binge-worthy dose of television: social media can be used as a weapon against us and the choices we make in the digital age will never again go unmonitored, even behind closed doors.
Watch: Clickbait Trailer
A few moments from the trailer suggest that it will no doubt eviscerate the social anxieties that we all experience, holding a mirror up to its characters to reveal the latent, voyeuristic cravings we have humans and how those impulses can sometimes lead us into darker corners of our own minds.
The Final Verdict
With such a thrilling concept and a hot-to-trot cast to bring it to life, this is a show that will be getting a high view count and most likely a cult following. And it’s no wonder – now more than ever before, this last year has proved just how easily online content can be a prime source of communal paranoia and Clickbait not only reinforces that idea but underpins its central mystery with timely themes that will make your brain tick and your heart race.
How could you say no? Save the date and click it if you dare.
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