A Film written and directed by Alex Lykos

Disconnect Me, is a film that actually connects, even though it is about disconnection. Disconnecting from one’s mobile phone does not mean disconnecting from people or from life in general. Alex Lykos is a filmmaker who connects with or without his mobile phone . The premise of this film is our total addiction to mobile phones, social media and communicating through text.  ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’, the title of a song by Cliff Richard way back in 1979, sums it up perfectly. How many of us prefer to text rather than talk? Well just about everyone it would seem. There’s nothing more annoying than getting ready to go out and meet a friend than having that friend text you ten times to tell you, they just got out of the shower, just got into the car, they’re on the way, they’ve reached your area, they’re just around the corner, they’re trying to find a  carpark, they’re walking down the street, they’re just opening the door to the cinema, restaurant or whatever, they’re inside, they’re sitting down, they can’t see you. By this time you are an anxiety ridden, out of control mental case and certainly not in the mood to to hang out. They can’t see you? WHATEVER! You’ve gone. 

The level of anxiety the other person feels if they are unable to text is also way out of order and this is what Lykos is getting at when he decides on a thirty day experiment without his mobile phone. He’s dedicated, he’s driven, he’s determined to see this through. He gives his phone to his wife, who locks it away in a safe, buys himself an old-fashioned landline, gets an alarm clock and uses a Gregory’s for directions, thereby, locking out poor Siri and doing away with Google Maps. He decides to film his drastic mobile phone diet, hires a film crew, sets up storylines and locations along with interviewing a variety of people of different ages and from different walks of life and takes us all on the journey with him. It’s not long before he realises that it’s impossible to disconnect alone. Everyone else is connected via mobile. How can he pay the crew? He banks online and so do they. How can he keep up with the medical problems which beset his ageing dad, whose problems, need immediate attention? His father too is dependent on his son having a mobile phone and his response to his son’s experiment is one of complete frustration with hilarious results.

Then there are the interviews with teens and even primary kids on why they can’t do without their mobile phones. One mother finds out her teen is up till 2.30 in the morning watching Netflix. Before the interview she had no idea this was happening. How many other mums are in the same boat? The interviews conducted reveal that there are many. All across the nation. Kids don’t see anything wrong with it though as many are taught that it is ok to spend hours on their phones, playing video games or watching movies. It keeps them occupied. Lets the parents have some, ‘Me Time.’

What of the teens who depend on likes and comments from others on their socials? Their whole lives can depend on these little approvals. They see themselves as being defined by what social media thinks of what they do and say as well as how they look, feel and act. What are they without Facebook, Instagram, Twitter e.t.c.? They are nothing. Lykos gently prods these screen dependent teens and is quite pleasantly surprised when some, well at least two, say they would prefer not to be so addicted and could maybe get used to playing sports in the park or going to the beach with friends rather than spending all their time in darkened rooms mesmerised by the flickering lights of their screens.

Alex Lykos has done an outstanding job on bringing the plight of the mobile phone addict out into the open.

He has juxtaposed natural settings, with the rustling of trees, the sound of birds and the glow of an evening sunset with the frantic pace of a world controlled by Artificial Intelligence. He asks if all the scientific progress we have made is worth it and looks at some of the sacrifices we have had to make along the way. He has achieved this with humour, empathy and all the curiosity of a seasoned journalist. Lykos’ documentary film is extremely clever and timely. Well deserving of the accolades it achieved at its Enmore Theatre premiere.

By Renee Lou Dallow 

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