Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: DEEPFAKE [Tribeca Film Festival - New York, New York]
The essence of a film like “Deep Fake” [Viewpoints] is how it exists in the mind. Jessica DiGiovanni as Jane is an every woman who perhaps wants to be more but not sacrifice her authentic self. However when the possibly of renting a best friend but then even further a team to manage her actual posts and profiles comes to bear then the film becomes a motivation on self and why we function the way we do. The question is a balance between selfishness and interest within the main character (which many people struggle with). Zoe (Sophia Lucia Parola) as the initial yes woman becomes the best friend rented. This happens because there is a selection of Jane’s friends who believe she is not living up to her potential. Whether or not Jane is correct to discount them is up for grabs.
Zoe is a Gen Zer who tries to move the needle forward on Jane’s life for a fee. She operates as a two sided monster who means well despite her pushing. London (Jocelyn Weisman) is the real motivator but all of her ideas maintain an essence of practically in the current societal setting. It is all about branding...but it makes a millennial like Jane feel lost. This all feels very abstract in how the movie functions narrative overall. Jane is a project manager but we never get a sense of who she works with or for and on top of that what she is actually doing. It is more a metaphor for what work is. But hiring these people plus paying rent on an apartment doesn’t quite connect is the actual plausible believability of what he are seeing. As the film progresses it almost feels like Jane is really just having an argument with herself inside her own head. And while this might make sense as an abstract comedy, there is something off on the tone despite DiGiovanni’s effective comic timing. The ending leaves the perspective open but the path overall seems too ironic in what it wants to be whil hitting the idea a little bit too precisely on the head. That being true, it is still off center. B-
By Tim Wassberg
