Seeking Mavis Beacon

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2:18

Seeking Mavis Beacon

R

2024

1h 42m

Documentary

Biography

History

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Popcornmeter

76%

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45 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

One of the most influential Black women in technology is a figment of our collective imagination. Mavis Beacon was invented by the Co-Founder of MySpace to sell the world's most popular typing software, but the real woman she was modeled after disappeared in 1995. Seeking Mavis Beacon poses critical questions regarding anthropomorphization and the consumption of marginalized bodies in the tech industry, while reimagining the legacy of a missing historical figure.

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Critics Consensus

Director Jazmin Jones' exploration of one of the internet's strangest cases occasionally lapses into self-indulgence, but the personalized approach ultimately yields a one-of-a-kind documentary experience.

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Thomas Boyd

Little White Lies

It’s not flawless, or free of blemishes and glitches, but neither should it be. As the film details, it soundly rejects the unjust demands for perfection dealt out to women of colour by society.

Rated: 4/5

May 12, 2025

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Jen Yamato

Washington Post

In this twisty, provocative hybrid documentary, filmmakers Jazmin Renée Jones and Olivia McKayla Ross set out to answer one set of burning questions and instead find themselves navigating a much thornier journey of artistic discovery and reclamation.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 13, 2024

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Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

Seeking a woman denied a voice, Jones has made herself the star of her own film, doing all sorts of things, like roller skating and consulting a tarot reader, that will make doc purists clutch their pearls, a sidelong pleasure of the piece.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 12, 2024

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Jennie Kermode

Eye for Film

Jones and Ross are both strong personalities and the personal aspect of the film is one of its strongest suits.

Rated: 4.5/5

May 9, 2025

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Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

I think this movie is suited mainly for people who are interested in Renee L'Esperance and the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing software. The movie didn't spark my interest in those subjects, so it was a chore for me to sit through it.

Rated: C

Dec 2, 2024

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Martin Carr

martincarr.co.uk

If nothing else, Seeking Mavis Beacon reveals an America coming to terms with a shifting cultural landscape, where gender and identity have moved on. A place where AI is quickly changing everything about the way we live our lives.

Nov 23, 2024

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Audience Member

This film, "documentary," went nowhere, I mean nowhere. The two 20-something filmmakers, recorded their like 13-year old-like conversations as though it had depth. This film is akin to a film project a middle schooler would have made: full of meaningless gratuitous footage. It should have been edited down to about a 15 minute documentary. What was the point of making this film other than vanity?

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/01/25

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Marie I

It was just plain terrible. I took time out of my day to just warn people, so that they don't make the same mistake. It was like the film makers had an idea, and them threw a title about the idea, and then ventured off VERY FREQUENTLY to Never Never Land, and then would find their way back to what the film was actually spose to be about, and then playing off the original idea, kinda piggy back off of it on a journey down nowhere, and then poorly ATTEMPT to reel it back to the original idea. Just... yeah... just dont.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/25

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Bebetta

Disjointed. The title needed to be seeking a reason as to why this documentary needed to be made. Congratulations on getting funding for navel-gazing and being a part of the documentary.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/08/24

Full Review

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Jazmin Jones

Director

Jazmin Jones

Actor

Olivia McKayla Ross

Actor

Jazmin Jones

Screenwriter

Guetty Felin

Producer

Tom Quinn

Executive Producer

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Seeking Mavis Beacon: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

One of the most influential Black women in technology is a figment of our collective imagination. Mavis Beacon was invented by the Co-Founder of MySpace to sell the world's most popular typing software, but the real woman she was modeled after disappeared in 1995. Seeking Mavis Beacon poses critical questions regarding anthropomorphization and the consumption of marginalized bodies in the tech industry, while reimagining the legacy of a missing historical figure.

Director: Jazmin Jones
Producer: Guetty Felin
Screenwriter: Jazmin Jones
Distributor: NEON
Production Co: BelleMoon Productions
Rating: R (Language and Some Drug Use)
Genre: Documentary, Biography, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 30, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.4K
Runtime: 1h 42m

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