Genre: Drama/Romance/Crime
Director: Cory Finley
Writers: Mo Buck & Chad Taylor
Cast: Armie Hammer, Madison Iseman, Kirsten Dunst, Edie Falco, Stephan James, James Remar, Daniel Stern
Plot: Maria (Madison Iseman), a 17-year-old high school student from Vancouver, sits bored in class at a desk in the back of the room. She checks her phone and scrolls through the private messages from different guts but seems disinterested. Later that night, her and friends are cruising through town with the windows down – signing every word to the song on the radio. When the song ends, one of Maria’s friends says that her cousin actually hooked up with the singer of this song by simply reaching out to him before a concert. The singer is a well-known teen idol pop singer so the rest of the girls are skeptical, although Maria stays relatively quiet.
At home, her mother Gretchen cooks dinner as they talk about weekend plans. Gretchen (Edie Falco) is a devout Catholic, as indicated by the crosses adorning the walls and her daughter’s namesake being that of the Mother of God. One such rosary hangs around the framed picture of her deceased husband. Maria excuses herself from dinner and proceeds to go through a lengthy process of prepping herself for a photo to post to Instagram. After posting the picture, she becomes drawn in by a commercial starring Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jack Everett (Armie Hammer). She searches him on Instagram and starts to look through his many modeling photoshoots. She begins to unbutton her jeans but stops herself and clicks the direct message button. After sending a basic conversation starter, she hits send and falls asleep.
In the morning, she goes about her daily routine. She checks her phone then does a double take when she notices that she has a response from Everett. She messages back and gets another response not long after. At school, she decides not to tell anybody and she definitely does not tell her mom as their conversation grows flirtatious. As the days pass, Maria’s conversations with Jack deepen and he opens up to her about his recovery from a grueling ACL tear the year before. Jack tells her that he is bummed that they are so far apart and asks if he can see “more” of her. Since they've only communicate through messages, she is hesitant and asks that he send a picture of himself holding a paper with her name on it, to prove that he is who he says he is.
In Phoenix, Jack Everett sits tired after a hard practice. His team is beginning to start the playoffs. He laughs at his phone, prompting his teammate Gerron (Stephan James) to ask what he is looking at. Jack pulls his phone away and says “nothing” with a smile on his face. At his home, a tracking shot of his mansion walls give a glimpse into Everett’s life. An MVP award from a few years back. Wheaties cover. A dozen endorsement deals. Some spots on the wall are noticeably empty, as we see framed pictures of him and his ex-wife stashed away in a corner gathering dust. Jack messages Maria to double check her age. She messages back that she is 21. He then writes her name on a piece of paper and takes a selfie with it, with a sarcastic grin (as if to say: of course I’m not fake).
As the focus switches back to Maria, she's ecstatic to find out that she's in fact talking to the real Jack Everett, former MVP of the football league. She's out of her mind and can't believe it! She tells him she finds him cute and she likes the cuteness of the sarcastic pose he chose for the photo. She adds that she finds him cute. As she waits for a response, she takes a moment to step back and realise what's happening to her. She's been sending messages to famous people here and there, but she never expected a response and she now that she received an answer, she doesn't really know what to do and when it will end. He answers back and responds that he finds her cute too, after stalking her Instagram for a bit. She thanks him for the compliment and sends him a selfie in her gym clothes as a thank you gift. The next answer takes her by surprise, he asks her about her age, again. She doesn't want to end this thing, so after a slight hesitation, she decides to lie, once again and say she's 21, when, in fact she's 17. They continue to chat together, talking about their friends. Jack mentions that he has a dog and Maria answers that she would like to meet him, so Jack sends him a picture of it. She answers back that her friend has a similar looking one, named Judy. After some meaningless chat, she then receives a shirtless picture of Everett, only wearing a towel. She puts her hands down her leggings and her mother, Gretchen enters her room without knocking to bring in her clean clothes. She asks Maria what she's doing and she lies to cover her tracks. Hopefully Gretchen didn't see anything, but she doesn't acknowledges it, so maybe she didn't. As soon as her mother leaves, she turns her phone back on, but Jack is now offline. Disappointed, she clicks on the picture and starts to please herself.
The reason why Jack is now offline is because he had to go to practice. With an important game coming up, he needs to be both focused and determined, ahead of the playoff battle, and he isn't focused and determined today. His coach, Greg Wilson (James Remar) asks him if anything is wrong, because his timing is off, his decision-making is poor and he doesn't look like the player he usually is. Jack shuts him down and says he has something else on his mind. Jack reaches over to his running back, Gerron Smith and tells him that he's going to give him the ball for the rest of the on-field practice. Smith finds it unusual, but says it's ok. When the practice is finally over, they head to the gym, where Jack goes on the stationary bike. Gerron takes the bike next to him and says that he felt Jack was different on the field today. He offers his support to his teammate if anything is wrong and Jack is thankful for the offer, but there's nothing wrong with him, well, nothing he can do. Gerron leaves his teammate and Jack immediately heads for the showers when he notices Maria is online while checking his cellphone.
When we see Jack scroll through his messages, we discover that there are actually a number of girls he is in contact with but he stops at her name. He lets her know that he is back and they discuss about her problems with her friend, Judith. She says that she wants to control her life and she doesn't want her to meet any new boys until she has a boyfriend first, so Maria can't steal her man. Jack says it's not important, because she has him now, with a wink emoji. He says he's about to hit a post-practice shower. He gets a response, tongue-in-cheekily asking if she can see proof. He responds, no towel this time.
That night, Maria lays in her bed staring at the ceiling. She gets a call from her friend but she lets it ring out. Her mom knocks and tells her that dinner is ready but Maria says she isn't hungry. Gretchen chews her out and so Maria gives in and goes to eat. While at the table, she receives a message from Jack saying that he wishes they could see each other in person. She mentions that he has a chance to face Seattle next week but he doesn't want to play a game of if's and he wants her now. Gretchen tells Maria to focus on her food and not her phone. He points out that it is only a three hour flight from Vancouver to Phoenix and that he could pay for her ticket. In that moment, Maria sits with shaking palms as she looks down at her food. She gets another message from Jack, this time with a picture of a ticket and the mouse hovering over the confirm button with a question mark.
She looks up at her mom and tells her that her friends are going on an impromptu trip to Edmonton this weekend to go to the West Edmonton Mall. Gretchen quickly turns red but Maria says that she has saved up enough from her part-time job and that she is partially going to buy her mom a Christmas present. Maria tells Gretchen that the flight leaves when she will be at work (as a nurse) and this does not help matters but Maria takes her mom's hand and begs for her to say yes. After a beat, Gretchen tells her that she hopes she has fun. She messages Jack some more that night and opens up about missing her dad, who died in a car accident 8 years prior. She still hates car rides because they make her think of his last moments. Jack sends comforting words and says he can't wait to see her so he can give her a hug in person.
At school the next day, Maria sits agitated in class. She cannot step checking her phone as it takes forever for the final bell to ring. It finally does and so she rushes to her car and drives to the airport. After boarding the flight, she immediately heads to the airplane's bathroom and takes a selfie biting her lip and lifting her shirt up, revealing her breasts. She sends this to Everett, the first nude photo she has sent his way. It's captioned: "I'm coming".
Jack is anxious to see Maria for the first time, after all, she looks pretty on the pictures, but it's often just make belief. He tries not to think about it and he heads to the airport to pick her up. On the ride to the airport, Jack calls his coach and finally opens to him about his problem. He tells him that he's feeling lonely after his ex-wife left him and he's not at the best place, right now, mentally, so he thinks it's for the best that he takes a day off practice tomorrow so he can prepare himself mentally for the upcoming game with one complete day of psychological relief. Greg accepts and he gives him advice for him to decompress following a taxing divorce, something he went through, more than once. He ends the conversation by saying that, after all, they're pretty much the same. He adds that he's proud of him and that he knows he won't let the Cardinals down. Not to put too much pressure on him, but the whole state of Arizona (and his legion of devoted fans) expect him too.
Maria gets off her plane and she looks around for the mighty Jack Everett, who's standing there, with the same piece of paper he had in the first picture he sent her. She thinks it's a sweet gesture and they awkwardly kiss on the cheeks. He takes her luggage with him, what a gentleman! On the quick car ride, he asks her how was her flight and other generalities, nothing to set off any alarms in Maria's head. When they get to his place, Maria, after noticing how big the house is, says that she can't wait to meet his dog! Then, Jack is left surprised, because he doesn't own a dog. She says that she mentioned to her that he had a dog, but, Jack can't remember that part at all and he never had a dog in the first place. He says he might have done it to try to impress her. Maria answers back that just being Jack Everett impressed her and that he didn't need a dog to do that. That whole conversation was weird and the hamster inside Maria's mind is running like crazy.
Seeking to break the tension, Jack suggests they go out so he can show her his favorite spots in town. He takes her to a shop owned by a Navajo man he has befriended after multiple visits there for spirituality purposes. Jack says he likes the place because it is rare he finds places in public where he is not bombarded by fans. Maria sees a piece of jewelry she is going to get for her mom (like she told her she was going to, if she went to Edmonton). As she is about to pay, Jack intervenes and pays for it himself. They drive around town a bit before hitting an open desert road. Jack, assuming he'll impress, steps on the gas in his sports car and they hit 95 MPH. She puts on a fake smile but is clearly terrified underneath and closes her eyes. Seeing this, he slows down and they head back to his home. On the way back, Maria is silent and increasingly perturbed by Jack's actions just now as well as the dog conversation earlier. She goes back through their messages and verifies that he talked about his dog but decides to let the issue die. However, she is no where near as elated as she was when she arrived in Phoenix. They go back to his home where they sit on his balcony overlooking the vast landscape. Maria decides to make the move and they have sex on the balcony.
Maria is back in her own bed, weeks later, staring at the ceiling. She goes through her Instagram and we see that she is now devoting much more time to curating her social media and has gained a sizable following. She has not message Jack since she visited him, even though he has sent multiple question marks. At school, she talks to her friend about it, who suggests maybe it has something to do with concussions (Maria does not buy that). She then gets a barrage of e-mail notifications, which she casually checks in class. As soon as she reads them, the color quickly rushes from her face and she scurried out of the room. In the bathroom, she opens the e-mails to see that it is someone saying he is in possession of her nude photos and will post them online unless she wires 5000$ to this e-mail. Their is a preview picture included in the message - it is the one from the airplane bathroom.
She starts to panic as tears trickle down her face. She is pacing in the stall, unsure what to do. She messages Jack multiple times but receives no answer. She lets out a piercing scream that echoes in the stall, the bathroom, and likely the hallway outside of it. She tells her mom she needs to talk immediately. At home, she is curled up in a ball with her head on her mom's lap. She is very hesitant but explains to her mom everything - Jack, the Phoenix visit, the e-mails, everything. Gretchen is initially mad at her daughter but soon kicks in to protective mode and tells her she will find a way to sort this out. Despite struggling financially, she wants to protect her daughter and so she pays the anonymous person.
Jack is swimming laps in his infinity pool. He stops to check his phone and sees that Maria is online. They talk about how well her visit went and how they hope to arrange something similar in the future.
The next morning Jack receives an e-mail on his way to practice that catches his eye. He clicks on it and it's someone claiming to detain sensitive informations regarding Everett. The person says that she is the mother of a young woman who he has been engaged in sexually-explicit conversations with. Her tone grows more intense as she says that her daughter is under the age of 18 and so he solicited nude photos from a minor. She then talks about how this has humiliated her family and asks for $500,000 to stay quiet and let this go away. Jack ignores the demand and he goes to practice as he was supposed to do, his conscience clear.
Jack's mental state improved a bit compared to the last time he was out on the field, but Coach Wilson senses that something is still wrong with his star quarterback. He goes to check on him, but Jack reassures him that everything is alright. Gerron notices an improvement in Jack's behavior and he teases him because it looks like Jack regained interest in life, for the first time since his wife left him. Jack admits to Gerron that he met someone, but it's complicated at the moment, but he doesn't want to tell it to the coach, fearing that he will disappoint him for not being focused for the playoffs, instead focusing too much on his love life.
The practice is interrupted by several police officers who invade the field. The arrest Jack Everett as Wilson asks them what the hell is going on. Everett remembers the email. He watches with horror as his coach and Gerron, and the whole team learn what he's accused off. The look of shame and disbelief on their faces is enough to shake Everett to the core. On his way to the police station, a news feed shows that everything is now public. He had a relation with a teenager, not even an adult. Jack Everett, the star quarterback, is a pedophile. Jack pays the bail to get out of jail. He tries to go home, but a crowd of journalists is waiting for him. His lawyer Ed Yeagley (Brian Cox) says that he has a secluded cabin his family uses for vacation and he thinks Jack should stay there for the time being. On his way there, Jack listens to the radio. The team cut him, every news outlet is shaming him, and everyone he knows is distancing themselves from him. His career is over. He turns off the radio and he cries as he stops the car on the side of the road, hitting his head against the wheel.
Jack discusses with Ed the options they have going forward. Jack is adamant that he is innocent and that he verified her age multiple times over. He could swear that that e-mail was a scam. Ed tells Jack that that her lying about her age isn't going to be a valid defense in court. He makes a couple of phone calls and gets referred to a private detective from Seattle who specializes in cyber crimes. The next day, Caroline Rusk (Kirsten Dunst) with her support dog, a German Shepherd named Lex, in tow. Jack goes to pet Lex but Rusk shuts him down as Lex is currently at work, not a play toy for random strangers. Jack is taken aback by her matter-of-factness. They go over the details of the case according to Jack, who feels like he was set-up. Caroline tries to look up the IP address for the mother but is tracing back to a place in China, indicating a VPN was used. Ed theorizes that maybe the mother didn't want to be accused of blackmail.
Jack sits on the house's porch, searching through his phone. He tries to call his ex-wife but receives no answer. He gets close to crying but clinches his teeth and wants to stay focused. Caroline pays him a visit and is much more warm this time around. Jack asks if it is ok to ask why she has Lex and she is coy with her answer. She says simply that she has personal demons and that Lex helps her stay on track in life. He tries to dig deeper into who she is but that is shut down fairly quick. He then says it must be nice to be able to live without everyone in the country knowing every small detail of your life. She asks if she can have a look at his text thread with Maria and he is hesitant but agrees when he realizes it is for the investigation. Caroline tells him that she has decided to fly back to Seattle and then trail Maria's family to see if she spots anything suspicious.
At home, Caroline is preparing her materials for the next day. She starts to lay out the moving pieces in the case on her dinner table, and increasingly starting to talk to herself - some of which doesn't make full sense. Lex approaches and nudges her, reminding her to take her medicine. She does.
Caroline drives to Vancouver and trails Maria and Gretchen. After gaining little traction, she heads to the store and buys up some beauty supplies. She then shows back up to the house and knocks. When Gretchen answers, Caroline introduces herself as a cosmetics salesperson and was wondering if she is interested in hearing about her products. Gretchen rejects Caroline's request but Maria, in the background, spots Lex and comments on how cute he is. She asks if she can pet him and Caroline smiles and nods her head yes - with her teeth firmly clinched. Maria says they might as well hear what Caroline has to say and Gretchen gives in.
As Caroline gives them her fake pitch, the conversation grows friendly and they get to know each other. Gretchen says she needs to cook lunch but things are going so well that she says she will make enough for Caroline to eat, too. She goes into the kitchen to cook but continues the conversation with Caroline, who is in the dining room. When Maria leaves to go to the bathroom, she leaves her phone on the table and Caroline suddenly finds herself with an intense decision to make. Seeing that Gretchen is focusing on the food, she grabs Maria's phone and cycles through her messages to see if there is anything suspicious. She stops at the conversation with Jack and it immediately catches her eye. She sees that the last send messages from Jack were from a few days ago with multiple question marks and "Fuck you, you bitch whore!". Additionally, Maria has not sent a message to him since her visit to Arizona. Caroline's mind is racing when she hears Maria coming down the hallway. She turns the phone back to a standby screen but this makes a noise and Maria is taken aback. Caroline freezes.
After a prolonged silence, Maria questions why Caroline had her phone. Gretchen stops cooking and enters the room with an ice cold glare. Caroline says that she is not a make-up saleswoman. She is a detective for the Digital Crimes Against Minors task force (she's not). She says she believes that Maria has been targeted by an anonymous figure and that they are trying to find out who it is. Gretchen's ears perk up, knowing this is relevant but she keeps her scowl. Under the table, she sends a text to Jack asking for a photo of his latest messages with Maria. She asks if Gretchen has made any contact with this anonymous person, specifically if she has demanded a large sum of money to stay quiet. Gretchen says that she was contacted but she never made any demands of the sort. Caroline's curiosity intensifies. She gets the messages from Jack and shows them to Maria - who verifies that she never got any such messages within the last week.
Caroline posits that someone must have been posing as Jack in messages to Maria and as Maria in messages to Jack. She asks Gretchen if she has had contact with this person and Gretchen admits to paying 5000$ to make this go away. Bingo. Caroline tells Gretchen to notify the police of this payment and give them any information she has on the recipient.
Caroline follows a team of special forces in a small Canadian town, deep in the flat and unfurnished lands of Saskatchewan, Canada. The streets are empty and the rare humans who dare to look in their direction follow them with their eyes. Nothing ever happened over there and suddenly, there's a whole squad of highly-trained professionals ready to strike. It could be their neighbours, it could be their friend, but one thing is sure, they'll find out soon enough. Everyone knows everything in these small villages and it's certainly true over there. Caroline can't imagine living here three hundred and sixty five days a year, it's bland, poor and unsavory. She pities the souls who happen to call this town their home.
The convoy finally stops at the beginning of a cul-de-sac, a gravel road with mobile homes on both side, facing each other, they all look alike, with some minor differences. The team stops in front of one. The windows are covered by newspaper and a pile of old, wet newspaper stands in front of the glass door. They tell Caroline to stand back and Lex follows her. She watches on, silently.
A man (Daniel Stern) is logged in on social media with three, no four different computers. One of them lists a number of celebrities, another a list of girls, all fake accounts of real people. Beside the name Jack Everett is written: $500,000 (not received yet) and beside Maria's : 5000$ (received). He logs into a fake account and sends messages to celebrities. His boredom is interrupted by a squad of policemen. They throw him to the ground. He doesn't resist, he knows why he's here. They look in his computer, more than $100,000 stolen from innocent people, $100,000 he made on other people, blinded by love. He wasn't just a regular catfisher, he catfished two people at the same time, unaware that they never spoke to each other directly. Caroline enters. She takes a few pictures and leaves.
Caroline flies back to Phoenix, where she meets Jack at his house. He's waiting for her, acting impatient. He's relieved when he sees her. For once, she had good news, he was apprehended, nothing to worry about. Jack thanks her from the bottom of his heart, but Caroline says there's nothing she can do for his sabotaged career. She leaves as mysteriously as she appeared and a relieved and ecstatic Jack calls his lawyer to arrange a press release proving his innocence.
At school, Maria sits in the back of class and navigates her various social feeds. She sees a picture of her with Jack in Phoenix and stops and lingers on it for a moment. She thinks about deleting it but chooses to turn the phone off, instead.
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