At the end of Caught In The Net, writing and directing duo Barbora Chalupová and Vít Klusák’s exposé of child abuse online, the Skype call tone plays as the screen slowly fades to black. Here, it’s typically bubbly chimes instead leave a lasting chill. That’s because, for the entirety of this alarming 100-minute Czech documentary, it is the foreboding sound of online predators.
An upsetting but urgent project, Chalupová and Klusák set up their experiment in the mould of reality TV. They cast three young-looking actors to pose as 12-year-olds, using childhood photographs and staged selfies to create profiles on numerous social media sites. Over 10 days, on sets built to resemble a young adolescent’s bedroom, the actors interact with men on various online platforms, abiding by a code of conduct that means the women can only respond to messages, cannot initiate conversation and must always state that they are 12 years of age.
The grooming begins almost immediately. Hundreds of message requests arrive within minutes of their profiles going live, while the opening exchanges range from the eerily gentle – “hey, sweetie” – to the unnervingly explicit – “have you had sex before?” Things quickly get darker. Many of the men, faces blurred by a filter that only makes them appear more unsettling, regularly expose themselves. Some discuss the possibility of a meet-up. All of them, in one way or another, seek to solicit nude images of the ‘girls’. One interaction with a man in his twenties soon evolves into blackmail when he obtains such photos and then threatens to publish them.
Very little of what the actors and filmmakers see is hidden from the audience, such is Chalupová and Klusák’s firm commitment to presenting the disturbing reality that underpins their film. It’s an ambitious yet altogether necessary investigation, all building towards the moment the team confront one of the groomers outside his home. It is oftentimes a deeply disconcerting watch. But Caught In The Net is also, perhaps, essential viewing for any parent.
Dir: Barbora Chalupová and Vít Klusák (100 mins)
Out now via digital download
words GEORGE NASH