Overshare: are there any good films about social media?

From Mainstream to Profile to Sweat, three films released this summer attempt the rare feat of capturing the experience of being online in a hyper-connected world

There are several elements of Mainstream, Gia Coppola's dark satire of YouTube stardom released in theaters this month, that resemble a stick-figure rendering of internet fame. The film, written by Coppola, supposes that a technophobic, shady drifter named Link (Andrew Garfield) morphs, under the guidance of aspiring film-maker Frankie (Maya Hawke) into a messianic, exhibitionist star somewhat of the trolling Jake Paul variety; his avatar, No One Special, appears to aim for the irony-poisoned, frenetic attention spans of Gen Z, but is a thirtysomething whose gameshow specials are filmed on a Hollywood set with a live audience, as opposed to the DIY aesthetic massively popular on the video platform.

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