Airplane Mode (2020)

★★

When Ana, an influencer, crashes her car while talking on the phone, she's shipped to her grumpy grandfather's farm and forced into a digital detox.

Classification: PG

Much like influencer culture itself, there's not much depth or personality to Airplane Mode, as César Rodrigues' film covers a pretty basic and predictable city vs country storyline of a spoiled, vain teenager becoming humbled when sent to live with her grandfather. There is a small charm to the film, however, mostly in Larissa Manoela's performance as fashion influencer star Ana who keeps the character balanced between arrogant and charming but this all something we have seen before. Nothing about the script from Renato Fagundes and Alice Name-Bomtempo surprises or changes up the formula at all and watching the film can make one feel like running on autopilot.

There is some visual flair to the film as the social media apps and phone actions "pop up" in the reality of the actions, a subtle reflection of how deep the internet influences daily life (no pun intended). Again though nothing breaks new ground as the visuals still bear resemblance to the standard format seen in various other film and television shows. The rest of the film just has a standard, flat look to it all which is disappointing since Ana's arc revolves around her reconnecting to her family and culture yet Rodrigues' does very little to differentiate the camera work between city and country. It's all the same, evenly lit flat shots that make everyone look aesthetically pleasing and doesn't deviate from the photo filter style crushing any realism.

There's honestly not much to talk about with Airplane Mode, it's exactly what you expect from the Doc Hollywood storyline to the typical romance between Ana and local country boy João. The commentary on social media and influencer culture has some cute funny moments like how Ana takes a selfie every time she's in a car accident due to texting and driving to boost her profile, completely clueless to how removed she is from actual reality. The satire is nowhere deep or as cutting as a film like Ingrid Goes West, however, Airplane Mode always goes for the most heartwarming and playful tones of comedy and drama. The whole film operates like a Disney Channel original movie, doing enough to make it bearable but not enough to make it noteworthy and always about a spoiled teenager learning about what really matters; family.

It's serviceable, many will find its predictability boring and seek a more challenging story but as someone who has seen far too many terrible films about social media (still trying to purge The App from my brain), Airplane Mode is not offensive to the senses. The few instances of charisma shine bright but everything about the film follows the algorithm of mediocrity and mass-market appeal, making its message about individuality triumphing over commercialism fall on deaf ears.

Director: #CésarRodrigues

Screenwriter: #RenatoFagundes and #AliceNameBomtempo

Cast: #LarissaManoela, #ErasmoCarlos, #KatiusciaCanoro, #AndréFrambach, #DaniOrnellas