[SXSW 2024] MY SEXTORTION DIARY -- Gonzo Documentary Is Gripping but Too Short

Review by Sean Boelman

Documentaries that take a gonzo journalism approach, where the filmmaker is the subject and becomes involved in their own investigation, can either be highly effective or very egotistical. Patricia Franquesa’s My Sextortion Diary mainly falls into the former category, although an often messy presentation keeps it from being as impactful as it had the potential to be.

The film follows the director as she is extorted after someone steals her computer and threatens to release her nude photographs unless she pays a ransom of thousands of dollars. As the title implies, My Sextortion Diary is a very personal story, but Franquesa struggles to form the connection between her own experience and the greater social implications of this issue. 

There is no denying that there needs to be a discussion about sextortion, and Franquesa’s documentary serves as a solid starting point. However, there are lots of questions that need further investigation. The movie only briefly touches on the flaws of the justice system, as well as the filmmaker’s decision to reclaim her sexuality and how her peers and family react to it.

At a certain point, one does have to wonder how much of this is an authentic representation of the protagonist’s experience and how much of it is performative. It’s clear that Franquesa is taking some dramatic license — for example, instead of showing text messages, she often shows them as on-screen text. The film depends on the audience’s trust that the filmmaker is showing the whole story.

Many of the questions that My Sextortion Diary inspires regarding documentary ethics result from its presentation style. We see a lot of simulated desktops, phone footage, and the like. However, most of it is precisely that: simulated. Franquesa seems to be recreating these interactions rather than showing them as they happen, and while this makes the movie feel very cinematic, it also hurts its authenticity.

When you take out the credits, the film's runtime comes in under an hour. And while there is a (mostly) satisfying conclusion, the investigation is still ongoing. Why did Franquesa choose to release the movie now and not wait until the story ended? It feels rushed — like she was impatient for some selfish reason, perhaps wanting to get the film out there sooner to repair her reputation rather than waiting till it could make a genuine difference.

Yet, even though the movie is incredibly short, it still feels like it takes a lot of tangents. For example, we see the director as she goes to the Locarno market trying to get financing for the film we are watching. Although a documentary about her making a movie following her experience could have been intriguing, this meta approach is not nearly developed enough to work.

My Sextortion Diary can be frustrating because of how short it is and how underdeveloped this causes it to feel at times. However, Franquesa has created a mostly gripping and provocative documentary, even if it will leave viewers walking away with more questions than they entered with.

My Sextortion Diary is screening at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival, which runs March 8-16 in Austin, TX.