Hashtag (2017)

Directed by: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah | 16 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Laura Achten, Florian Christiaensen, Annelien Cornelissens, Musia Mwankumi, Ruud Oomen, Sara Gracia Santacreu

Marie dreams of a future with her Kevin. She can totally see it, even though she has never met Kevin in real life. Kevin and Marie know each other through the internet. Everything seems to be going well, until Kevin asks Marie to send some pictures.​
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‘Hashtag’ is about a very topical subject, which unfortunately many (young) girls have to deal with. Kevin asks Marie to take explicit pictures of herself and manipulates her into going further and further. Ultimately, there seems to be no turning back.​ ‘Has#tag’ is a film with a clear message. Not particularly artistic, sophisticated or open to interpretation,​
but a film that shows how easy it is to manipulate you. Everyone knows such a story. You almost immediately know which turn the plot will take.​
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The acting is good and the group of friends in high school is very stereotypical. This makes it look like a film adaptation of a book by Carry Slee: schooly and childlike. The soundtrack plays a major role in ‘Hashtag’ and constantly changes with the atmosphere and events. Both the story and the music get more and more grim as the film progresses. It ends as it most likely will in real life, without any justice. On to the next one.