This Sinister True Crime Documentary Sees An Online Love Triangle Turn Deadly
The Internet is a brilliant invention that provides us a wealth of information at our fingertips. But it’s something of a double-edged sword. Rather than using the web to quench a thirst for knowledge, some use it to create another life that fulfills something missing from their real-world existence. Most of the time, that type of deception is fairly innocuous but the case chronicled in true crime doc Talhotblond is anything but.
Talhotblond recalls an Internet love triangle that ended in tragedy. Thomas Montgomery and Brian Barrett were coworkers who both developed an online romance with Jessi, an 18-year-old high school student using the screen name Talhotblond. Thomas created an alternate identity that made him feel young, virile, and desirable. Brian, however, was much more forthright in his online endeavors. Ultimately, one of them lived to tell his story.
The film presents the proceedings primarily in chronological order and plays out like a cautionary tale that ultimately transforms into a full-fledged horror story. There are so many points at which Jessi and Thomas could have (and should have) ceased contact and moved on with their lives. But a shared sense of desperation allowed the charade to continue. As the lines between real and make-believe continued to blur, matters escalated, forever changing the lives of those involved.
Also Read: Shocking HBO True Crime Documentary Uncovers A Serial Killer Stalking Queer New York
The documentary gives a surprising amount of insight into the minds of people that manufacture a false persona online. The TV series Catfish (not to mention the film by which it was inspired) has certainly touched on this subject before. But we get a bit more in-depth here. Where the television show tends to focus more on manufacturing suspense and highlighting drama, Talhotblond provides perspective from mental health experts and people that can speak to the search for validation online from a place of academic authority.
The recounting of this harrowing tale serves to remind us how little we know about the people we interact with on the internet. When the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred, a person can quickly lose all perspective. And while relationships that exist solely in cyberspace can feel every bit as powerful as those we forge in real life, they often lack the context that keeps real-life relationships grounded.
When the real-world component is removed from a relationship, people sometimes develop feelings for the person they think they know, rather than the person to whom they are actually speaking. For that reason, Internet relationships often serve to validate something missing from a person’s real life. But some people forget to take stock and consider at what cost that validation comes. The case profiled in Talhotblond is an instance of exactly that.
Also See: This Brutal Netflix True Crime Documentary Series Will Leave You Speechless
The doc is tough to sit through from the get-go. This is heavy subject matter, after all. But it gets especially difficult to endure once we learn Jessi’s backstory and what’s truly driving her actions. Her behavior is even more troublesome with that added context. It is easier to excuse her antics without the benefit of all the information. Learning her true intentions and seeing the depraved lengths to which she goes in search of adoration is a lot to process.
Talhotblond serves as a mostly effective case study on a tragic love triangle. The one piece that I found a bit irksome, however, is the addition of voiceover narration from an actor portraying the posthumous voice of Brian Barrett (the victim in the love triangle murder). I like the idea of giving a voice to the voiceless. But that same feat could have been accomplished by simply telling his story, rather than tasking an actor with putting words in Brian’s mouth. That one piece of the presentation comes across as a little clunky but not so much as to render the proceedings unwatchable. I simply wish the victim’s portrayal had been approached differently.
Minor criticisms aside, Talhotblond is a compelling viewing experience that helps make some sense of what motivates people to create false personas online. If you are curious to check the film out for yourself, it can be had as a digital rental or download and on physical media.
Categorized:Editorials
