Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara

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Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara

2024

1h 40m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

94%

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18 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Tegan and Sara ascended to global fame as one of the most influential queer indie rock bands of their generation. They worked hard to cultivate an inclusive and passionate fanbase around the world. Listeners were drawn to the duo's beautifully confessional lyrics, but there was more than just the music. Fans found within the community the only safe space to come out and be queer during a time when few bands would declare allyship, let alone celebrate their own queer identity. But a bad actor took advantage of the community's trust and comfort. Tegan and Sara's world turned upside down when Tegan's personal files were hacked in 2011, revealing the dark side of fame and fandom. This is a sprawling yet intimate story of how Tegan's identity was stolen and weaponized in a complex catfish scheme to ensnare members of this community. The film is an examination of the severe ripple effect of mistrust, anxiety, and self-doubt that resulted from Fegan's (Fake Tegan) actions.

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Alissa Wilkinson

New York Times

“Fanatical” is both a truly appalling story and a peek into something darker and more sinister about the way social groups form and evolve — and devolve, too — when the internet mediates it all.

Oct 22, 2024

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Matthew Creith

TheWrap

A worthwhile watch for those interested in avoiding such drama as it takes a deep dive into the troubles that tortured the famous twins for years.

Oct 18, 2024

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Marya E. Gates

RogerEbert.com

Unfortunately, its true crime format doesn’t do justice to the complex human pain at the story’s center.

Oct 18, 2024

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Jennifer Green

Common Sense Media

While this film will undoubtedly appeal first and foremost to the singers' fan base, there's enough commentary here about the online world we all inhabit to create a compelling cautionary tale.

Oct 25, 2024

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Manuel Betancourt

FilmWeek (LAist)

As a warning about the internet and about catfishing and about this sort of very specific moment on the internet when it allowed us to really connect with those who felt very far away... it's a fascinating portrait.

Oct 24, 2024

Full Review

Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

The documentary is compelling and addresses some interesting aspects of fame and fandom in the digital age. It’s not entirely conclusive, however, and that makes it a bit anticlimactic.

Oct 23, 2024

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David F

This was a really interesting documentary about an independent band that suffered from some sort of hacking incident which led the hacker to catfish fans and friends of the band. While the film doesn’t really delve into the technical details of the hacking, someone somehow got hold of some of the email and personal information of Tegan and was able to pretend to be her. The film breaks down the way this affected the band and their relationships with their fans which is interesting even if the film ultimately cannot figure out who was behind the catfishing and why.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/20/25

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Shannon S

Don't send Erin Carr to do Max and Nev's work... Boring intro which was just trying to validate Tegan and Sara's fandom... There's really not much to the "investigation" aspect, which viewers watching a movie about cat fishing would expect. I felt cat fished by the title of the film...

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/19/24

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Audience Member

In the first few minutes, one of the cast insults multiple bands of the era calling them boring. 1) incredibly rude 2) uncalled for. Bashing other bands to make Tegan and Sara look interesting doesn’t make them interesting. I found the documentary redundant and mostly a blowing smoke up my butt kind of film, wrapped in a catfishing story to make people actually want to watch because otherwise they wouldn’t. Zero out of five stars. Not worth the time I spend watching.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/01/24

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Erin Lee Carr

Director

Sara Quin

Self

Tegan Quin

Self

Erin Lee Carr

Self

Jenny Eliscu

Self

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Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara: Trailer

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Synopsis

Tegan and Sara ascended to global fame as one of the most influential queer indie rock bands of their generation. They worked hard to cultivate an inclusive and passionate fanbase around the world. Listeners were drawn to the duo's beautifully confessional lyrics, but there was more than just the music. Fans found within the community the only safe space to come out and be queer during a time when few bands would declare allyship, let alone celebrate their own queer identity. But a bad actor took advantage of the community's trust and comfort. Tegan and Sara's world turned upside down when Tegan's personal files were hacked in 2011, revealing the dark side of fame and fandom. This is a sprawling yet intimate story of how Tegan's identity was stolen and weaponized in a complex catfish scheme to ensnare members of this community. The film is an examination of the severe ripple effect of mistrust, anxiety, and self-doubt that resulted from Fegan's (Fake Tegan) actions.

Director: Erin Lee Carr
Producer: Erin Lee Carr, Elyssa Hess, Jenny Eliscu
Distributor: Hulu
Production Co: Story Syndicate, Carr Lot Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 18, 2024
Runtime: 1h 40m

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