#Like

#Like is a dark tale about a teenage girl looking for revenge because her younger sister commits suicide after being trolled online. Written and directed by Sarah Pirozek’s it’s a cyber noir thriller available to rent and buy on all major digital platforms from 1st November. 

Rosie (Sarah Rich) is commemorating the 1st anniversary of her sister Amelia’s (Samantha Nicole Dunn) suicide. Her sister had been an active user on social media: highly creative, posting about her activities; this would ultimately lead to her taking her own life after the trolling she received online. Rosie is looking back through her old posts and discovers the hate messages her sister was receiving and becomes determined to find the troller. Hacking into her sister’s account she manages to reactivate the troller’s creepy interests and takes her newly found evidence to the authorities only for them to refuse to investigate any further. So, she decides to take the law into her own hands and comes up with a plan to take her revenge. 

For a first feature from Sarah Pirozek it manages to pull off a convincing and empathetic story. It’s an interesting take on the cyber bullying world and a warning of the potentially harmful impact of social media for young people. The plot doesn’t always stick together and the gulf in the gap between the young teenage girl on a push bike in pursuit of a man in a truck seems a bit strange but is perhaps an indication of the size of the task ahead of her.

Sarah Rich plays Rosie who puts in a heartfelt performance as the older sister shouldering some guilt and the responsibility to do something about the situation. She shows a mixture of sadness and loss whose own youthful naivety to get revenge runs parallel with the need to continue to live a normal teenage life. Marc Menchaca plays the Man (as per the credits) who quickly ticks a lot of the macho male stereotypes as the beer swilling construction worker, which he manages without overly labouring the cliches. 

Although a feminist movie at heart it would appeal to anyone looking for a thought provoking modern day story, even for a wider teen audience, although it does justify its adult rating. A cyber coming of age thriller where even though a female victim is the catalyst of the story, the female is also the heroine too, looking to reverse the typical sexploitation in her own slightly disturbing pursuit of justice.