This adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray is a perfect cautionary tale for the image-obsessed world of social media so prevalent today. The distorted reality that reliance on filters and the parallel hidden reduction of self-worth is clearly in Henry Filloux-Bennett’s sights.
This modern take on how seeking online popularity regardless of cost can feed narcissism. Dorian’s ultimate isolation and withdrawal from a world where he cannot be what ‘digital Dorian’ is speaks of the threat to mental health damage that overreliance on social media and its technology can bring.
Mapping out Dorian’s descent, Fionn Whitehead offers a beguiling mix of the ordinary and the extraordinary. He is utterly believable as the young, gauche student. Charming, awkward but with subtle hints that he is not entirely innocent. By the end of the film, the haunted ghoul has not a hint of youthful optimism. It’s an outstandingly deft performance.