Recounting the mysterious tales of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, who inspired by the unknown and mysterious man in the internet, known as 'the slender man', kill their best friend brutally, as they take her alone in the wood and stabbed her about 21 stabs, then, they go in order to meet that mysterious man, the thing that leads the police to reveal the identity of that man.
With no artist in play, it becomes clear how fallacious it is to pin the blame on artists for the actions of disturbed individuals who consumed their art at all.
What's notable about Beware the Slenderman is that it doesn't turn into exploitative, sensational fare, instead presenting the facts in such a calm, simplistic way that the end result mirrors a chilling horror film.
Harnessing the simplicity and reach of the Internet is an appropriate technique for this doc, because it's about just that. But using Skype is also a genius tip for any doc maker on a budget. Which is every doc maker.
What emerges is a portrait of the internet as the birthplace of contemporary folklore -- a virtual campfire in which disparate users come together to channel, and distill, their fears, anxieties, and dreams into fanciful tales, à la the Brothers Grimm.
Brodsky's film has multiple goals, and might have been better served by a docu-series like Netflix's Making a Murderer, given how much it attempts to tackle.
Emotionally unstable kids can do some terrible things, especially when provoked by terrifying ideas, but hopefully frank, honest films like Beware the Slenderman will help make us all a little more attentive to these things in the future.
While Beware the Slenderman isn't an easy watch-and will undoubtedly inspire anxiety and panic in some viewers, particularly parents-it's a worthy one that helps make sense of a senseless crime.
