Cyberbully

This short drama was promoted mainly off the attraction of Maisie Williams (she of Game of Thrones fame) and it was the reason I came to it. I wasn't sure quite what the plot was, beyond the title laying out the subject area, and it was a nice surprise to find that it was several things, and because of this, they all worked pretty well. On the face of it we have a drama where two characters communicate across a computer – one of whom we do not see, the other being the main character Casey. This starts slowly, and at first I was struggling with watching characters type to one another, but it got better once the text became voice chat, and the plot started to unfold.

Although it has issues that are not really resolved and did bug me a little, mostly the plot works. The elements where I felt I was just being asked to "go with it" were not always perfect, but it is the movement of the viewer within the plot that makes it engaging. Our sympathies change around slightly through the hour – not really twists and turns as such, but it does move well. This working allows the drama to do something else – which is to be a social message too, but to be one in a way that works and doesn't have people turning off because they feel like they are being preached at. It is a fine line at times, but mostly it manages to stay on the right side of it to produce a topical drama which stands as a cautionary tale that makes one thing about the issues.

The drama keeps it from being too heavy handed, and shifting the viewer round encourages thought – not only of the drama, but of the subjects, which in turn then helps the social message aspect hit home more effectively. I am old enough not to have had to deal with the internet while at school, but I do feel for those who are born into that because it is so easy to have anonymous people tear at you for the sake of it; people like to label others trolls, but as with this drama, often just the culture of cruel comments and sarcasm from "regular" people is just as damaging.

The cast is limited to a handful of people, with Williams being the only person really in it for longer than a few scenes – indeed I don't think she is ever really off the screen since the whole film is in real time and plays out entirely in her bedroom. She is excellent; delivering a lot with her face and really getting into her character – it is not easy to hold the film up in this way, particularly when you are alone and acting at a computer screen, but she does it very well and contributes to making the plot work by virtue of her character. Of the others it is worth mentioning Haruka Abe. Although she only has a few scenes in videos online, she convinces at being cheerful and likable, while also being naïve, but more importantly she sells the change in her pretty well without over playing it; it is a small role but an important one and she does it well.

Cyberbully isn't perfect as a drama, but it works better than I expected and moves the viewer around nicely as well as being reasonably gripping. The social aspect benefits from this, as it delivers a thoughtful cautionary tale and advice, but avoids being preachy or alienating – which is a difficult thing to do, so kudos to it for that.

A Teenager gets hacked and extorted by a stranger via her own computer. Now she has to cope with his moods and prevent her own calumny.

This short film started accidentally after another YouTube-Video I watched about the issue of cyperbullying. Right since the first second I simply could not stop watching this movie. The tension, the setting, the music, and especially Maisie Williams impressing acting skills got my eyes glued to the screen from beginning to end. It was so enthralling!!! I have never experienced something like that before. Just watch it and not only get an original view on cyberbullying but also one hour of pure suspense.

This was a brilliant bit of TV, that should be shown in EVERY school around the country!!

Plot In A Paragraph: Casey (A brilliant Maisie Williams) is targeted by an online hacker, who begins to torture her, by threatening to post 5 topless photos online that she sent to her ex boyfriend, if she does not do exactly as she says.

If I was impressed with Maisie Williams in Games Of Thrones (and she is one of my favourites) then she blew me away here. She carries the weight of this full movie on her tiny shoulders. She is the only one on screen for about over 90% over this movie, and she does a brilliant job!! Which is even more impressive when you consider how old Williams is. I hope she wins some type of award for this, as she certainly deserves it.

It is intense, gut wrenching, harrowing and utterly compelling!! I could not stop watching from the minute it started.

An outstanding performance by Maisie Williams (I don't know her from Game of Thrones but if she's as good on that as she is here it must be worth watching).

She singlehandedly carries a one hour drama about cyber bullying drawn from real world examples.

It dramatically personifies the impact of trolling in teenage circles and turns Maisie's own trolling on its head through the use of a hacker who communicates directly with her in her bedroom and plays the role of a modern St Peter at the pearly gates holding a mirror up to her misdemeanours.

The film has many twists and turns and can never be predicted. It's a tough role for a young actor to carry off but she succeeds with flying colours.

The lessons are clear and powerful. That's why it should be shown in social education classes to demonstrate the extremes that trolling can get to.

Taking real life situations and stories, the creators of this one episode drama are geniuses in their work, using emotive languages and even pictures to show how shady the world of the internet can truly be. The main characters actor, Masie Williams, is showing off her true ability and proving, as if anyone would doubt, that she can do much more than just Game of Thrones, with an amazing performance were she superbly expresses the guilt that a person in her position would feel.. It instills a light sense of fear and thrill throughout as the danger is always present and intimidating. It achieves it's goal of also teaching the general public on what they shouldn't do online well. Cyberbully uses the interesting technique of staying in only one place the entire duration, this, as many movies before it have shown, can be tricky and risks getting boring if it isn't executed well, which this certainly was., managing to keep my early attention lasting until the very end. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a thought provoking drama.