Hollywood’s depictions of the ways in which we live on social media have tended to rely on the downsides: misinformation, bullying, doom-scrolling, and self-hate. In the decade since David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-winning
The Social Network, thrillers and horror movies have leaned into the fact that on the Internet, anybody can lie about who they are. Gia Coppola’s
Mainstream, which will be released by IFC Films on May 7, continues this tradition with pitch-black comedy: “You want to make art, or you want to chase affirmation from faceless strangers?” sneers Andrew Garfield’s Link.
But social media has also inspired filmmakers toward inventive forms, like “screen movies” whose narrative unfolds almost entirely through computer screens. The subgenre also offers insights into influencer-inspired jealousy, the impossible difficulty of middle school, and the competitive nature of life as a streaming endeavor. These are GQ’s picks for the 11 best social medi
“Nerve” is a lot like high school: The jocks and pretty people have all the fun before eventually being bailed out of trouble by the nerds who were ceremoniously not included. The nerd in question here is Tommy (Miles Heizer), a computer guy who pines for leading lady Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts). Vee is blonde, beautiful and has just been accepted into CalArts. There’s no way in cinematic hell or actual Hell that she’d wind up in Tommy’s arms. Yet it’s Tommy to the rescue when Vee gets herself involved in a sinister smartphone game whose online ringmaster sounds suspiciously like Stephen Hawking.