A Life Lived Via Laptop

Joe Berkowitz introduces the short film seen above, Noah, which premiered this week at the Toronto Film Festival:

The 17-minute, mildly NSFW Noah is unlike anything you’ve seen before in a movie–only because it is exactly like what many of us see on our computers all the time. Created by Canadian film students Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg, the film begins when our high school senior protagonist types in the password that opens up his laptop, and the narrative takes place entirely on his computer screen.

From the desktop photo of a young couple posing for the camera, we learn that Noah has a girlfriend. Their relationship serves as the centerpiece of this cautionary tale about digital culture. Through Noah’s perspective, we see the way the couple communicates, either in Facebook chat or Skype, with him flitting through any number of other online activities at the same time, while approximating being present for their conversation. Things really get interesting, however, when our protagonist hacks into his girlfriend’s Facebook account. The rest of the film deals with the fallout from this act.