As If It's True (2023)
With the rise of the internet, new pathways for fame and notoriety were created with the birth of online celebrities. While some fade in and out quickly with a brief period of viral success, others have been able to craft full careers out of their popularity. While there is financial and social incentive for these individuals to craft a persona of thankfulness and positivity for the position they have been granted, the truth behind the scenes is not always a reflection of this bright exterior.
Screening as part of the 2023 San Diego Asian Film Festival, John Rogers' As If It’s True looks to highlight this experience through the lens of a young woman named Gemma Stone (Ashley Ortega). Originally going viral for a rant she gave against her former boss, Stone became known as a relatable figure but has recently started to see a lack of reception with many calling her fake and forced. Stone is struggling to find a pathway for both her personal and professional life when she meets a struggling musician named James (Khalil Ramos) with the two creating a plan to use each-other to figure their individual issues out.
From the opening sequence of the film which takes the audience through the rise of Gemma Stone, there is a clear sense of authentic understanding surrounding the layers of internet culture and fame that helps create a rich viewing experience. The character of Stone feels incredibly well built and realistic as an individual who promoted her authentic self and found attention, but eventually lost herself in a fictionalized shell of influencer life. Every event, relationship, and moment in life became an opportunity for content and creation with the lines between reality and fiction getting mixed. As the audience noticed and rejected this, Stone was left with no support or direction as she frantically tried to find an answer of how to salvage her identity and an even bigger mess was made. This feels like a real narrative that online personalities go through.
Both the screenplay and Ortega give this narrative and character a real depth and life that enhances the experience and only sucks the audience in deeper. Rather than portraying this conflict as being simple or trying to attribute a clear judgment to Stone, the film embraces the complexity and emotional core that surrounds these events to present a mature and reasonable example of this experience. Stone is neither a bad or good person. The film allows her character to build and reveal itself to the audience with even her original viral video getting dissected as far as the morality behind the content being posted and the reaction to it. In many ways, As If It’s True is a modern tragedy that speaks to something deeply important to the modern social moment.
Yet, the film is not a depressing feature. In fact, As If It’s True is often a wildly entertaining viewing experience. The screenplay is near flawless as it finds small moments of joy, love, and comedy in the journeys of Gemma and James with both Ortega and Ramos giving these characters a needed heart and connection. Though their developing relationship is questionable at times when it comes to being authentic, when the film pulls these two together and gives them a moment of raw connection, the weight and chemistry are undeniable. For a film so dedicated to highlighting a world of fakeness and crafted expression, these moments play their part well at showing the poignancy of authentic raw human emotion and connection.
If there is a flaw in the narrative, it is some of the more predictable twists and turns. The film fails to transcend the natural expectations one will form when it comes to the overall direction and thesis of the feature. While still effective and important, it also is hard to say the film truly finds any revolutionary thoughts and understandings surrounding internet fame that hasn't been expressed before. While these do not harm the film too badly as a viewing experience, the clean 105-minute runtime is an undeniable help, it does somewhat harm the lasting impact the film will have in the mind.
Overall, As If It’s True is a great film. Highlighting an important piece of modern culture and delivering an effective statement on it, the film equally builds a fun character study and larger statement that plays well and is as entertaining as it is meaningful.
Screening as part of the 2023 San Diego Asian Film Festival, John Rogers' As If It’s True looks to highlight this experience through the lens of a young woman named Gemma Stone (Ashley Ortega). Originally going viral for a rant she gave against her former boss, Stone became known as a relatable figure but has recently started to see a lack of reception with many calling her fake and forced. Stone is struggling to find a pathway for both her personal and professional life when she meets a struggling musician named James (Khalil Ramos) with the two creating a plan to use each-other to figure their individual issues out.
From the opening sequence of the film which takes the audience through the rise of Gemma Stone, there is a clear sense of authentic understanding surrounding the layers of internet culture and fame that helps create a rich viewing experience. The character of Stone feels incredibly well built and realistic as an individual who promoted her authentic self and found attention, but eventually lost herself in a fictionalized shell of influencer life. Every event, relationship, and moment in life became an opportunity for content and creation with the lines between reality and fiction getting mixed. As the audience noticed and rejected this, Stone was left with no support or direction as she frantically tried to find an answer of how to salvage her identity and an even bigger mess was made. This feels like a real narrative that online personalities go through.
Both the screenplay and Ortega give this narrative and character a real depth and life that enhances the experience and only sucks the audience in deeper. Rather than portraying this conflict as being simple or trying to attribute a clear judgment to Stone, the film embraces the complexity and emotional core that surrounds these events to present a mature and reasonable example of this experience. Stone is neither a bad or good person. The film allows her character to build and reveal itself to the audience with even her original viral video getting dissected as far as the morality behind the content being posted and the reaction to it. In many ways, As If It’s True is a modern tragedy that speaks to something deeply important to the modern social moment.
Yet, the film is not a depressing feature. In fact, As If It’s True is often a wildly entertaining viewing experience. The screenplay is near flawless as it finds small moments of joy, love, and comedy in the journeys of Gemma and James with both Ortega and Ramos giving these characters a needed heart and connection. Though their developing relationship is questionable at times when it comes to being authentic, when the film pulls these two together and gives them a moment of raw connection, the weight and chemistry are undeniable. For a film so dedicated to highlighting a world of fakeness and crafted expression, these moments play their part well at showing the poignancy of authentic raw human emotion and connection.
If there is a flaw in the narrative, it is some of the more predictable twists and turns. The film fails to transcend the natural expectations one will form when it comes to the overall direction and thesis of the feature. While still effective and important, it also is hard to say the film truly finds any revolutionary thoughts and understandings surrounding internet fame that hasn't been expressed before. While these do not harm the film too badly as a viewing experience, the clean 105-minute runtime is an undeniable help, it does somewhat harm the lasting impact the film will have in the mind.
Overall, As If It’s True is a great film. Highlighting an important piece of modern culture and delivering an effective statement on it, the film equally builds a fun character study and larger statement that plays well and is as entertaining as it is meaningful.