Beware the Slenderman

Beware the Slenderman is a fascinating documentary exploring the tragic stabbing of a young girl by two of her friends. The young girls became infatuated with a fictional online character (Slenderman) and believe they must kill their friend Bella or the Slenderman will kill their families. Crazy right? Well yes, but lets get to know why... and that is exactly what Irene Brodsky (director) does.

The documentary gives an insight into the act of killing, the repercussions, the crazy US justice system, the effects on family and friends and the ​issues of mental illness in children. I imagine the victims family did not want to be interview for the film but I would of been interested to contrast the families pain after this awful event.

The film is careful ​about how it challenges the​se​ subjects​,​ however does so by showing the very real and heartbreaking story of this particular case. The film is well made, brilliantly directed and challenges how we view and 'treat' mental illness. A lot of people might of been excepting a rubbish horror movie when they saw the title of this film but I can assure you this film is far more scary, distressing​ but an important watch.

Others have summarized this documentary far better than I can. I will just reiterate that the movie is far too long. There is a lengthy description of folklore and horror stories, which could have been cut down considerably.

Then there are the interviews with the parents of the two perpetrators, which also could have been cut down. It seems like there is a lot of repetition.

This movie could have been tightened up and submitted as a short- subject documentary, and I think it would have been better.

I did like the courtroom sequences; however, the cases are not yet resolved. Perhaps the film-maker could have waited another six months to give the story a better conclusion? Obviously the appeals are going to drag on for years, but at least show the audience the outcome of the trials, which apparently are taking place in the spring of 2017.

I also would have liked to have heard from the victim, or a member of the victim's family.

It seems as though the victim in this, Payton Leutner, is just a footnote to this story. She was talked about very little, almost as if she were just some random classmate. I kept waiting to hear from her or her family, and when I didn't, I waited for a disclaimer that they didn't want to be interviewed, but neither happened. The film portrayed a lot of sympathy for the girls, and I have none. They had planned out this attack. Even at 12 years old, you know killing someone is wrong. But watching their families go on and on about how hard it was to be without their daughters and how it was so upsetting, it is easy to see why the girls themselves were so self-centered. They showed no remorse for killing her whatsoever. This film could have been so much better. What a disappointment.

While the documentary seeks to explore several themes around mental health, modern folklore, bullying, and modern technology's role in adolescent development and parenting it seldom finds a coherent thread to pull them together in any meaningful way. The film starts interestingly enough exploring the story of two adolescent girls who are pending trial as adults for the attempted murder of their friend. This in and of itself would make for a compelling case study on mandatory laws surrounding the subject of violent crimes committed by minors. Add to that the fact that the girls committed this act to gain the favor of a modern fictional boogeyman named Slenderman, and we now have the potential for an even more compelling discussion around mental health, the internet's influence on child development, modern parenting and any number of related topics. Unfortunately, this is where the narrative seems to stall with the filmmakers doing little more than exploring the folklore of Slenderman and how the girls' mutual status as outsiders may have led them to seek acceptance through belief in the fictional being. Though the filmmakers make several attempts to explore other themes including mental health (which arguably should be the central narrative), they seldom make it past a cursory examination of the facts as they exist, and attempt to draw little to no conclusion about how these facts should influence the outcome of the still pending trial. Perhaps this stance, or lack there-of, is out of respect for the victim in this tragic case, which is surprisingly absent through most of the discussion. The result however, is a story that would be thought provoking as a 30 minute true-crime new story, but feels a bit drawn out as the handful of facts are repeated ad nauseum, rarely digging past the surface of any single topic.

I found this to be a well done documentary that effectively portrayed our society the way it is today. The film glossed over the plight of the victim just as these girls did, and we expect them to show empathy? Did the filmmakers?

It's true kids are overexposed to a lot of things on the internet, but when HAVEN'T kids been exposed to awful things? Just look at the history of the world!! It is RIFE with horrific wars, oppression, persecution, poverty, death...children have always been exposed to these things.

The justice system is ridiculous. Trying 6th graders as adults, questioning their beliefs and labeling them mentally ill at age 12 when the brain isn't even developed? There's a reason we don't diagnose psychopathy until age 18.

I'm not excusing what these girls did. Its horrific. But why are we so baffled? Wars have been raging for millennia, and even in the 21st century society ADULTS are killing each other in the name of "beliefs," which are quite honestly no less rational than internet demons.

Seriously.