Netflix’s latest true crime documentary, “Unknown Number: The High School Catfish,” directed by Skye Borgman, is a chilling and alarming ride through the darker corners of internet activity and vulnerability of trust in the smartphone age.
Filmed on location in the tiny town of Beal City, Michigan, the film follows Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny, a teenage couple who began receiving relentless, creepy and threatening text messages from an unknown number as soon as the couple started dating. As the harassment unfolded over the two years, the town is overcome with panic as classmates, friends and even teachers are suspected.
In a jarring plot twist, the perpetrator is revealed to be Kendra Licari, Lauryn’s mother. The truth is emotionally devastating. Kendra pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor. The debate heightened after Kendra was featured in the documentary, recreating the situations where she sent threatening messages to her daughter.
To audiences, especially teenagers and parents, the film was eye-opening. It reminded them to take online actions seriously, to have open-ended conversations about cyber boundaries and to be aware that emotional abuse does not always manifest with signs of bruises.
Teenagers are growing up in an age where communication is instant, pervasive and often invisible to adults. Texts, DMs and anonymous messaging apps offer a forum where harassment can travel unchecked. What makes cyber-abuse so stealthy is the manner in which it can infiltrate all areas of a victim’s life, school, home and relationships without leaving physical evidence. The psychological harm is immense and often unnoticed.
“Unknown Number” points to how quickly trust can be manipulated in the age of the internet. When the abuser is a known entity, someone they trust, the harm is irreparable. It calls for immediate attention to issues of digital literacy, parental boundaries and the importance of mental health support systems attuned to the nuances of online trauma.
The documentary also points to a shocking disparity in how communities and schools respond to technology-facilitated harassment. Institutions are still not well equipped to handle anonymous threats or provide substantive support to victims. As technology evolves, so must the means of accountability and protection.
