Beware the Slenderman

The 2016 documentary, "Beware the Slenderman" by Irene Taylor Brodsky.

“BtS” covers the 2014 attempted murder of 11 year old Payton Leutner, by 12 year olds Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Both girls claimed that they were told to do it by a boogeyman archetype called Slenderman, an internet meme that has exploded in popularity with tweens and teens.
The documentary is at it's strongest when we discover that Geyser is diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia, a condition similar to what her father suffers from.

Mental health is never an easy topic to dive into, and answers are scarce when it comes to detection, education, diagnosis, treatment, and all around resources. But I cannot imagine the personal hell that it would be, to be unable to differentiate between reality and hallucinations/delusions. Indeed, the memoir, Ellen Sak's "The Centre Cannot Hold", with her tale of fighting through schizophrenia, proved a reality far more disturbing than most fictional horror movies. "Beware the Slenderman" would have benefitted from trying to be less like a horror movie, as at times it focusses on creating a narrative of Slenderman and the argument that he could indeed be real (like Santa Claus, if only enough people believe in him). Why not just stay with the implications of tragic consequences to innocent everyday people, from well meaning but mentally ill individuals? That's scarier than anything I can think of.

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.