NZIFF: Beware the Slenderman

Now, I'm not saying that some documentary makers saw the stabbing and immediately thought "movie", but they do have some suspiciously quick interviews in Beware the Slenderman.

This movie is mostly about the two girls that did the stabbing. We spend time with their families and find out about how they grew up, eventually found each other and became friends, and then decided to kill another girl (which didn't work). Because of the Slenderman. Then we follow their families and the court case. And there's also information about the history of the Slenderman, and talking with heads (including Dawkins) about the role of folklore and memes and such.

A bit of attention is paid to how the girls can't tell the difference between fact and fiction, and how one of them believed in Santa Claus until quite late... although no-one mentions that you could swap out Slenderman for Religion and could easily get to the same fate, although people would be more defensive of them. Ideology is a killer, man!

At nearly two hours, it definitely feels long. It doesn't help when the movie about the new bogeyman suddenly cuts out (because of a power surge). I was hoping for a bit more indepth discussion on the Slenderman himself, but it's mostly about the case. And considering that is still on going, we aren't getting closure in this movie.

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