- Content: “A Sickening Cyber Bullying Case”
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What You Need To Know:
The documentary places a strong emphasis on Biblical values as the adults involved work hard to pursue justice for these two young teens. Additionally, Lauryn’s dad is a very strong example of good parenting and is extremely careful to keep her safe. Furthermore, everyone agrees that Lauryn and Owen were too young to receive these extremely graphic texts of a sexual and violent nature. However, the movie also features very strong foul language, including 26 “f” words, along with extreme miscellaneous immorality, such as lying and manipulation. Thus, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.
Content:
Strong Biblical worldview as parents work hard to protect their children and police officers and federal agents fight to pursue justice for two young teens who are being targeted by a stalker. Furthermore, every adult in the documentary agrees that the kids are too young to be exposed to the things they are experiencing which include extremely graphic texts about sexual acts and violence;
Very strong foul language including 26 “f” words, 14 “b” words, 23 sexual slurs, and 10 lighter obscenities like sh** and a**;
No violence, though a young girl is told to commit suicide multiple times;
No sexual activity but a young girl and a young boy are sent thousands of messages that include extremely perverse sexual content that is extremely graphic and visceral;
No nudity
No alcohol use;
None; and,
Very strong Miscellaneous immorality as two young teens are exposed to extremely perverse sexual and violent texts, the story also includes lying, gossip, slander, fraud, hypocrisy, dysfunctional family, stalking, greed, envy, and manipulation.
More Detail:
UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH is yet another very high-quality documentary to come out of Netflix. The story unfolds compellingly, keeping the viewer in the dark about specific events and information in the same way someone experiencing the event in real life would. The pacing is terrific and does a great job of creating suspense before finally breaking it.
The documentary has a strong Biblical worldview as many people work to pursue justice for Lauryn and Owen as they fight to track down the person harassing them. Furthermore, those interviewed for the documentary all agree that these kids were too young to be exposed to these graphic texts of a sexual and violent nature. However, the movie also features very strong foul language, including 26 “f” words, and contains very strong miscellaneous immorality as well; thus, MOVIEGUIDE advises extreme caution for older teens and adults.
Growing up in a small town where everyone knows everyone, Lauryn and Owen began hanging out when they were young and started dating as they entered high school. They seemed like the perfect couple and were very steady until somebody added them to a group chat with a third person’s number, with messages telling Lauryn to break up with Owen because he was meant to be with this unidentified third person. At first, the pair ignores these texts, but the messages are non-stop every day, and after a couple of months, this task becomes impossible.
Eventually, Lauryn and Owen turn to their parents and let them know what is going on, and they immediately bring it to the school to figure out who is sending these texts. Unfortunately, even after these people have become involved, those working on the case are no closer to figuring out who is sending these texts, and Owen and Lauryn break up to see if that will resolve the issue.
Sadly, the harassment only got worse after the breakup as the texts shifted from telling Lauryn that she had to break up with Owen to telling Lauryn to harm herself and commit suicide. While the parents and the school continue to work to find out who is sending these vile texts, as the months go by, they are still unable to make any progress. Finally, they involve the police, as Sheriff Main, the county Sheriff, joins the case.
He begins to investigate students at the school who may have a motive and eventually narrows down his suspicion to Khloe, a girl in Lauryn and Owen’s grade who has a mean streak and has always been close with Owen. Khloe, however, always denies being involved, and the police are unable to connect her to the harassment after searching through the data on her phone.
Still unable to make any real progress on the case, Sheriff Main reaches out to the FBI for assistance in finding the perpetrator. Meanwhile, as the case drags on, everyone involved in the investigation becomes increasingly worried about Lauryn and Owen’s mental health, as they have now faced more than a full year of harassment. Thankfully, the FBI has many more resources, and the agent involved has new ideas on how to find the person behind these texts. Will it be enough?
