W sieci

As a standalone film, it wouldn't be as good or as powerful as the whole combo of a film for adults and juveniles, and a book and awareness. I am thankful for the clarity, playfulness and ugliness. This is exactly what was needed and I sincerely hope that a miracle will happen in some families. It is already clear that this is Klusák's second biggest notch after Czech Dream. (09.06.2020)

The Czech event of the year, which should probably be seen by everyone, although only parents and grandparents will be shocked by it. Caught In the Net is a documentary with a good idea presented in a form that doesn't bore, so even people who don't watch documentaries should give it chance. It focuses on three young girls with childlike features that make them look 12 years old as they explore the darkness of social networking sites full of sexual predators. But it is Tereza Těžka who gets most of the attention, giving the most believable performance of all (the final 20 minutes are very gripping and emotional). I wonder if Caught In the Net will be shown compulsorily at schools one day. Story****, Action>No, Humor***, Violence>No, Entertainment****, Music**, Visual**, Atmosphere****, Suspense***. 8/10. (25.10.2020)

Clean marketing and filmmaking work. Klusák and Chalupová have delivered such an unpleasant, funny, understandable, simple and emotionally instructive title to overcome the traditional limitations of documentaries, which demand active cooperation and deeper empathy from the viewer. Like the "opening of a discussion" it's "cool ammo for memes and internet humor". It does not convey anything revolutionary and it does not discover anything stimulating, but it reliably draws you in, and perhaps it will lead to changes beyond the momentary event. The best moment of the documentary is the conclusion, which shows that mere "moral outrage" is not enough to humiliate the predator and drive him into a corner. That's the whole tragedy. (29.02.2020)

Klusák is on top, this time also thanks to his progressive student Barbora Chalupová. I told myself that after crushing the moral cripple who has been prime minister for some time now, there is not really any room left to go anywhere, that there is no place to find stronger opponents, and the parody elegy about a bald, uncouth man who receives an educational soda in the middle of Auschwitz somehow confirmed this. But now comes this punch to the gut. To accuse the director of having an over-inflated ego at a time when Czech documentaries probably don’t have a stronger personality is more of a poor construct than a useful criticism. They could have sat in three little rooms instead of building three fakes in the middle of a hall, but if you have strong filmmaking ambitions, the question is not why, but how. And it serves a purpose. Even if you teach civics and computer science, when cybersecurity is on your mind, you know from hints what kids are looking at on the internet today, so you probably know what you'll be dealing with. But Caught in the Net goes far beyond the ordinary imagination. The concentrated moral bottom crammed into a hundred minutes, in which every excuse for a relieved laugh is accompanied by a feeling of inadequacy, will mix your feelings quite a bit. However, the dramatic arc works well, managing to encompass both the documentary process itself and the regular tension, which is almost unbearable when sitting down and drinking a lemonade. I was curious about the ending, the point, which must necessarily lead to education. However, the final interview describes all the dirt in three minutes without any hint of a moral extension. The subtitles, tears on the edge of my eyes, heavy legs, and an uncontrollable urge to be home immediately and hug my own child. And a double shot of alcohol. Nothing more important will pass through Czech movie theaters this year. (30.01.2020)

A horror documentary. It’s horror not because such “predators” exist, but because of HOW MANY of them exist. What’s the response to that? Track down and lock up thousands or even tens of thousands of men, who are often probably fathers and the breadwinners of their families? That probably won’t work. But perhaps the hype that has grown up around this film will put the brakes on their outrages, at least for a couple of years. Klusák and Chalupová handled it superbly. I appreciate the ideas such as the clarification of the “nice face” to the strains of pleasant music and the last scene, which takes the escalating tension of the whole film to an emotional level, until the viewer’s hands tremble together with those of the filmmakers in front of the camera. (29.07.2020)