Hollywood’s first social experimental film “Inside”, about a young girl who’s been kidnapped and can only escape through the help of social media, trudges on while viewers lose interest.
Since the Daily Dot wrote about “Inside” last week, four episodes of Christina dealing with her captivity have been filmed and placed online.
So how’s Christina fairing?
The third episode, filmed on day six of Christina’s captivity, has her begging for food and water on the Internet. The Internet responded well enough for Hollywood’s liking, so in episode four (day 9 of captivity), Christina’s kidnapper delivers her a burger and fries. She says in episode five that it was the best meal she’s ever had.
In episode four, the water for the shower is turned on in Christina’s prison, so she finally has something to drink. Christina also takes a shower and it is here the viewer learns her kidnapper placed a camera in her showerhead.
By the sixth episode, Christina notices a friend on her Facebook wall has linked her to a cryptic site called “Your friends are my friends.” The site loops footage of Christina washing herself from the showerhead. Angered by the footage, Christina goes on a rampage. She destroys her shower (and water source) and beats an electric box with a metal pole. The episode ends with the power going out.
Since last week, episodes of “Inside“ have seen a steady decrease in views. The third episode saw less than 50,000 views, while episodes four and five have less than 10,000. The sixth episode, posted today, has its views temporarily frozen at 302.
The story of Christina’s captivity is compelling, but many folks, like last week, can’t get past the premise (or presenters Intel and Toshiba) to fully engage in the “social film experiment.”
YouTuber MrProCrack writes “This is just bullshit just another commercial” while sergiomj jokes “***Spoiler Alert!**** She ends up buying a Dell :D.”
Others haven’t become completely disenchanted by the experience. 616YONNY writes “WE NEED THE HELP OF ANONYMOUS!” on the YouTube channel for “Your Friends are My Friends.” Commenting on a recent episode, Naureensd says “i have to stop watching these before bed…. i get so freaked out.”
Despite the steady decrease in episode views, Christina Perasso’s Facebook page has collected an additional 6,000 likes (to over 20,000), and The Inside Experience has collected another 12,000 likes (to over 50,000).
Is Hollywood comfortable with producing content for as small an audience as 50,000? And what is the parting message viewers are supposed to learn from this social experiment?
The Daily Dot will be watching…
