Mark Reviews Movies: PVT CHAT

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Review by Mark Dujsik | February 4, 2021

Writer/director Ben Hozie may touch upon a few ideas about living on and around the internet in PVT CHAT, but his screenplay also touches upon a few too many directions that this plot might take. It's alternately a depressing character study about a man living two lives, the tale of a stalker, a mystery of sorts about a potential femme fatale's intentions, and a strange romance between two people who have never met in the real world.

In other words, it's all over the place in terms of plotting and tone. Hozie seems more concerned with presenting a litany of potent themes—fear of real intimacy, the façade of it in online spaces, the nature of relationships, the ease of deception on the internet—than with assembling those ideas into or within a consistent narrative.

Our protagonist is Jack (Peter Vack), introduced with a scene of him furiously masturbating to a woman performing some role-playing for him online. She's Scarlet (Julia Fox), with whom Jack has become obsessed. He doesn't have much else, making—and, obviously, losing—money gambling online and losing his New York City apartment soon.

While he likes the blunt honesty of his online "relationship" (He repeatedly insists that all relationships are nothing more than transactions), Jack wants to know the truth about Scarlet, even though he lies to her that he's a successful tech entrepreneur. One night, Jack is convinced he spots Scarlet shopping at a nearby bodega. Now, he really wants to know the truth about this enigmatic woman.

The movie indulges in scenes of Jack's various internet obsessions—trying to convince strangers and friends to finance his gambling, while also ignoring the real-life advances of an ex-girlfriend (played by Nikki Belfiglio) so that he can use her laptop to pleasure himself to Scarlet. It's fascinating to a degree, seeing someone so uncertain and insecure trying to convince himself that it isn't the case.

A plot does emerge, involving a lot of money, Scarlet's real life, and Jack's stalker-like hunt for the woman of his fantasies. It's far less complex, a lot more obvious, and quite confused, especially when it comes to the question of the sincerity or falseness of Scarlet's feelings for Jack. PVT CHAT knows it wants to say something with all of this, but it never quite says much of interest or value.

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