Kookaburra Love

We don’t know what Sophie and David look like. They never lay eyes on one another, either – at least not during the conversations we, the film’s audience, get to see. The love story between “Mouse” and “Rogue” unfolds in a series of Whatsapp messages – the whole back-and-forth, from the initial digital flirts to the first minor annoyances and tensions, which finally lead to a break-up. A voice-over reads aloud the intimate messages from David and Sophie in a businesslike tone, while on the screen we see provocative, shocking images taken from news reports, or detailed shots filmed painfully slowly. Some of these show well-known riots that have taken place thanks to the same instant Whatsapp or Facebook messaging, such as a massive brawl on the beach at Hook of Holland. This poetic, experimental presentation of a deteriorating relationship is by no means an indictment of new media, however; alongside their communication by Whatsapp, the protagonists have personal contact as well. What gives a stimulating, scarily recognizable charge to this modern romantic epistolary exchange is the pregnant silence of an unanswered message, the sudden acceleration of reactions when love ignites, or the increasingly noncommittal tone of the messages. And the messages’ supposedly ephemeral nature does nothing to diminish their intensity. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)