Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Leofwine_draca I watched this on television under the title DE@TH ON LIVE. It's a broad satire of social media and reality television, set in a futuristic society in which every person now wears cameras concealed in contact lenses and many people's lives are broadcast online for the entertainment of the masses.It's an interesting subject matter, but one that never really gels. This film features various diverse sub-plots that never really go anywhere. One girl's private life is constantly being spied upon while a former soldier investigates his brother's mysterious death and discovers it was broadcast online. The film flirts with a few first-person sequences and has a good opening car chase, but the mix of middling, unknown actors and confused plotting make the whole thing a real chore.

Jay W. The film starts with a car chase that grabs the attention of the audience by placing them in a p.o.v. angle of a high speed chase. Its a great opening for the film as the viewer is immediately immersed into the storyline. Being an Iraq veteran I have long avoided films with anything to do with Iraq as its something I prefer not Channel. So I had lots of apprehension which I'm glad I did not allow to handicap me as this film is not a war film but a stick it to the man stand for your rights type of film. The film's plot line was intended I feel to be futuristic and to compliment that notion the lighting is dark and melancholy. It adds to the suspense of Jonah's character as he attempts to get to the same ratings as his brother. What's scary and not so far fetched anymore about this film is our societies youth are setting themselves on fire for nothing more than more views on a youtube. Via social media anyone can Channel and become overnight stars that fizzle out the next day. As J's sister found out fame can turn to a 7th grade cafeteria mean girls mentality as Jonah's in an instance. Overall I would recommend the film to anyone interested in futuristic films, fast cars, and the impact of social media on our daily interactions as humans. My only negative would be the car crash I just don't understand wrecking cars for cinematic purposes. Great film

Tokiwood I've seen this movie at Fantaspoa festival in Porto Alegre in Brasil. I didn't know anything about it and I was more than pleasantly surprised.Very interesting and visionary premise about a new social network, in very close future, about live streaming videos of people's lives. They have contact lenses camera that shows everything people see. A rebel streamer is killed and his brother takes over his avatar in order to find the killers.A lot of car chases, very well executed, a lot of exciting scenes. The cast is very interesting. They all have some 60s look and reminded me of Steve McQueen movies and James Dean. But it's very modern in ideas and style. Main actress - Kate French - is awesome. Would like to see more stuff with her. Beautifully shot, well directed, good writing, visionary ideas, exciting chases, interesting characters. Subplot with sister is a nice addition to the universe of future that is around the corner. It makes you think... I was missing a spectacular car chase climax, but I feel that the director wanted to make it more personal and direct closure. Check it out!

sarah_venn First film from writer/director Drew Thomas set in the not too distant future where people have taken social media to a new level and broadcast their lives in real time through contact lenses which transmit to an app on their smartphones.The film opens with an amusing advert in the style of real Google adverts. The below video was used in a viral marketing campaign and is not the actual one used in the film, but will give you an idea of what the film is centred around.Doesn't seem so science-fiction now, does it? Maybe the not too distant future could even be next week! It does seem like the next logical, if not even more personal step up from blogs, youtube channels, reality TV and sharing of life moments on twitter and facebook. The film starts with a car chase in which Wyatt Maddox (Taylor Handley) is driving accompanied with Tara (Kate French). We then later learn that this car chase ends fatally for Wyatt. The story then continues with Wyatt's soldier brother Jonah (Dominic Devore) returning home for the funeral. On discovering his brother's online existence under the channel name Wyld_Life, Jonah decides to pose as Wyatt and reawaken his channel in order to lure his killers.Meanwhile, while the main story is unfolding there is a sub story in the form of Ashleigh Maddox (Skyler Day) the little sister of Wyatt and Jonah. She is at that impressionable high school age where having recognition and admiration from your peers seems like the most important thing to give you a sense of belonging. She is also a channeler and has her own fashion vlog. Here you see how she uses the vlog for online attention as she sits alone talking to herself in a mirror, but actually casting to thousands. She begins a relationship which she talks about and broadcasts through her channel. She later finds out that her boyfriend has been casting without her knowledge and during intimate times too.Another sub story is about what people do to increase ratings, and therefore get sponsors to give them earning potential. Wyatt's angle was stealing cars, heightening his risk and also simultaneously boosting his ratings. Behind this are the sponsors which sell the advertising space on the casting channels to companies with a relevant product. Furthermore, this bred underground casinos where we saw the shadier side of being able to watch every moment of people's lives. Gamblers betted on people's life events in real time and long-term bets such as if a girl's pregnancy test would be positive or negative, and then if this led to abortion or keeping the baby.This was an interesting film which shows the direction that social media could go and has gone in the past. From 2005 when Andrew Fischer auctioned his forehead for advertising space, to viral celebrity sex tapes, and the increased popularity of reality TV there definitely would be a market for what Channeling proposes the future of entertainment to be and our willingness to share more and more of our lives in order to get our 15 minutes of fame.A Q&A session followed after the film, the distance between audience and director was approximately 5000 miles but through the wonders of Skype we heard the American accent of Drew Thomas as he sat in his car by a mountain in the glorious sunshine in California. Taking questions from the audience Drew said that he didn't feel that social media was to blame but that together with people it can be evil and pervasive. He showed this through the character of Ashley where he wanted to make the audience sympathise with her, however one festival audience member found her character annoying! But then I think that's how some people view social media, I find it particularly annoying when 'friends' of mine post every minute detail of their life – I definitely don't think I'll be tuning into livecasting channels in the near future, well, not unless they are doing something exciting…..