Reality is seeping into every form of entertainment these days. The reason for this was proven once again in the hard-hitting film “Catfish.”

It’s not a documentary, it’s not a thriller, and it isn’t any sort of scripted movie. Even the creators of this movie had no idea what they were making when they began filming, and they can tell you everything that it’s not, but can’t really explain what it is. The previews for this movie make it out to be a scary stalker flick – which it’s not.

It begins as the story of a friendship between a photographer and a young girl, Abby, who paints his photos and her family. It’s an unlikely story, but his friends decide to document this friendship in the pursuit of a good documentary.

The plot grows increasingly complicated though, as Nev Shulman – the subject of the film – begins to befriend the rest of the family through the Internet, and eventually develops a romantic attachment to Abby’s cousin Megan. The story is told completely from his side of all the relationships that evolve from Nev and Abby’s artistic friendship.

There are several attempts to meet this family in person, which fail. The real drama of the story derives from Nev and his buddy filmmakers’ drive to Michigan to meet Abby, her family and the girl to which Nev has become extremely attached. Without spoiling the movie, it can only suffice to say that not only is this movie not what you expect, but the resolution is extremely unpredictable.

The title of the film “Catfish” refers to people who are on the Internet who are not the people they pretend to be. As you can imagine, this concept plays a central role in the film, but the end fails to provide a gripping story of Internet intrigue; instead, the moviegoer is left wondering, “why did I spend money on this?” The only innovative aspect of this movie is that not only did these boys document the calling out of their catfish, they also handle the situation in an extremely mature manner.

The overall concept of the film makes sense, and the gut-wrenching shock that comes from realizing that this could happen to anyone on Facebook is daunting. However, you may want to save your dollars for Blockbuster when the movie comes out on DVD.