‘Mainstream’ Review: A Modern-Day ‘Network’
Andrew Garfield gives one of his best performances in a brilliant satire of social media and influencer culture.
It’s safe to say that no one can ever remake Sidney Lumet’s dark comedy Network, in which a failing news station rose back from the grave by exploiting the “mad prophet” persona of washed-up anchor Howard Beale (brilliantly played by Peter Finch in his last theatrical role), who spews conspiracy theories about the media and the U.S. government, asking his audience to get mad about the systems in place to dismantle their control. Paddy Chayefsky’s prescient script inadvertently predicted the rise of “fake news” and conspiracy theories, which has permanently warped the minds of many audiences who watch so-called “truth-tellers” who allegedly awakens them from being a “sheep.”
You can’t remake a film that has become more timely with age, as the media divide became more apparent, but you can certainly contextualize it to fit our social-media-driven era. Gia Coppola’s latest film, Mainstream, aims at doing just that. It tells the story of Frankie (Maya Hawke), an aspiring videographer who soon finds a path to internet fame with Link (Andrew Garfield), the film’s Howard Beale, who aims at “unplugging” social media users by seeing the world without their phones and a filter. With the aid of Frankie’s friend, Jake (Nat Wolff), and publicist Mark Schwartz (Jason Schwartzman), they create an internet persona called “No One Special,” which showcases the hypocrisy of influencer culture and the masses who watch people who became famous by doing…nothing special. However, the satire goes too far, and Link progressively becomes a legitimate “No One Special” after finding fame and fortune and not caring what anyone thinks of him, which will push his mission to unplug to uncomfortable and dangerous extremes. Whilst Mainstream’s subject matter will elicit lots of chatter and divide audiences, its core mission on exposing the toxicity of influencer culture makes for a poignant and timely watch, pairing extremely well with Network and Matt Spicer’s 2017 Ingrid Goes West.
If Howard Beale was the “mad prophet of the airwaves,” Andrew Garfield’s Link could be considered as the “mad guru of the cloud,” aiming to unplug the masses by addressing them inside the very thing he detests—which accidentally addresses the cyclical nature of social media. You may hate how social media works and how people use it, but to get your message out in an efficient way that reaches as many people as possible…you’ll have to use it, even if that message is “Stay off social media and the internet.” It’s hypocritical, I know, but Frankie, Link et al. realize that the only way to tell people to unplug is by shooting it through the cloud, where most people perceive reality, through Twitter feeds, Instagram filters, and out-of-context Livestream clips. Andrew Garfield magnifies every ounce of screen-time as the new Howard Beale, who never shies away from addressing how social media and our phones ruin our entire livelihood through a game show called “Your Phone or Your Dignity?”
Its representation of social media culture is rather facile, but Garfield elevates the simple material with emotional power and expressive traits that immediately recalls Peter Finch’s Beale prophet-like demeanor. Two scenes in particular, in which he publicly defecates on an internet show hosted by Jackass alum Johnny Knoxville to “beat the system” or when he addresses a theatre full of “No One Special” cultists after the suicide of a teen who was publicly mocked on his “Your Phone or Your Dignity” show are the closest parallels that could ever be drawn with Lumet’s film. Garfield unleashes in a full-fledged Howard Beale rant on how social media warps our reality and makes us forget the humanity behind every single internet personality. It’s the best he’s been since his tenure in David Fincher’s The Social Network. Every scene he is in is a superb feat to watch, even if his character doesn’t shy away from being mostly inspired by how Peter Finch reinvented ultra-expressive acting in Network.
The same can be said for the supporting actors who all do a terrific job, particularly Maya Hawke, who becomes entranced by Link’s freeing personality, proud of not being “controlled” by “big tech oligarchs” and able to live his life on his terms. As she deepens into “No One Special,” without realizing the harm Link is doing to individuals, slowly becoming the thing he sought not to be, it creates a rift in her friendship with Nat Wolff’s Jake, who gives a rather quiet yet impactful performance, particularly during one of the film’s very last scenes. Wolff is, however, the film’s most clichéd character, who acts as a “moral compass” to Frankie, constantly warning her that Link is “dangerous” and she doesn’t know anything about him, which of course she doesn’t care about as she’s aiming for fame. However, it turns out that once Link finds fame in his guru-like messaging, he starts to distance himself from Frankie—who seems impervious to the harm Link is causing. The film is also beautifully shot by Autumn Durald, which perfectly encapsulates the visual style of influencer culture in many YouTube-like sequences and amazingly complements Garfield’s highly expressive performance.
Mainstream isn’t an easy film to watch—it’s filled with many uncomfortable sequences that directly address the audience on the psychological impacts social media and influencer culture perpetuates. It doesn’t do it as bluntly and wittingly as in Ingrid Goes West. However, it’s still able to reinterpret Network to a social-media dominated era, exacerbated by disinformation, warped realities, and plenty of “No One Specials” who rose to fame by doing nothing special for clicks and likes. It definitely is not for everyone, especially those who aren’t ready to have a thoughtful discussion on social media hypocrisy and how influencer culture has distorted our own image we’d like to project online. However, for the ones who are ready, Mainstream is one of the very best movies of the year and one that doesn’t shy away from addressing issues related to the internet that need to be heard so we can finally start to “unplug” or, at least, become better humans through our online interactions.