REVIEW: Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara [2024]

Rating: TV-MA | Runtime: 99 minutes
Release Date: October 18th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Hulu
Director(s): Erin Lee Carr

She has no idea who you are.

This really is the perfect storm necessary for an extensive case study to be done about the psychological impact of social media and fandom on audiences and artists alike. Tegan and Sara’s fame grew right alongside that technological evolution: a queer pop band speaking to a marginalized community that was trying to find its place in the world during the early aughts comprised of two musicians keenly aware of their impact and thus willing to help foster a safe haven. So, when a nefarious entity pretending to be Tegan Quin decides to prey upon fans searching for that inclusion and visibility, it’s not far-fetched to believe them. She’s always given time to fans. Always treated them like peers. How is this any different?

The answer might be obvious to those of us on the outside (although the number of male celebrities caught sliding into the DMs of young women hardly makes it an impossibility), but we’re talking about impressionable kids desperate for validation. Maybe they’re still closeted and afraid to discover their parents or friends won’t accept them after learning they’re queer. Maybe they’re introverts whose relationships are mostly online already and thus highly susceptible to the kindness of strangers. Whatever the case may be, these women received a message from their idol, did their due diligence to see the details of that correspondence was superficially truthful, and went all-in on befriending a superstar who understood.

It hasn’t stopped either. Erin Lee Carr’s Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara explains how this person (or persons) has been pretending to be Tegan Quin for sixteen years. They still haven’t been caught. The pop star is therefore correct to worry that going public might cause “Fegan” to start their attacks all over again. But maybe the exposure will also help teach today’s teens to be more careful online. That’s the real value here. Not the mystery (although it doesn’t hurt our entertainment), but the warning. Because this isn’t just a case of identity theft where Tegan becomes the sole victim. Every person “Fegan” duped must now confront the shame and anger this truth has wrought.

The situation goes well beyond the hazards of parasocial relationships too once we meet JT: someone who personally knew and hung out with Tegan before becoming a victim to the imposter. It’s one thing to always be removed from her via a computer screen and then feel “connected.” It’s another to be connected and then get led on by someone else. Rather than have that a-ha moment of “this person doesn’t know who I am” when attempting to move from online to IRL, JT has no choice but to think “this person is maliciously messing with my life.” Some of these “friendships” lasted years. “Fegan” might be fake, but the victims’ emotions aren’t.

Carr does a nice job juggling the desire to dig deeper against the necessity of not rocking the boat. This film isn’t possible with Tegan and Sara’s involvement, so you can’t begrudge her for not pushing harder during moments when the former comes off detached from the plight of her wronged fans (although, you must also consider her need to emotionally distance herself from strangers as a result of this ordeal due to safety and sanity considering loved ones were also impacted). Besides a Ph.D. speculating why someone would do this and what they gain from it, FANATICAL is very specifically focused on the victims’ experiences rather than the crime itself. No police are involved. This is an internal investigation.

That fact holds things back where the overall subject of celebrity and fandoms is concerned, but it makes the whole more personal and cathartic for those impacted. One could say the film is Tegan’s way of apologizing to those hurt by “Fegan.” It’s an acknowledgement that they weren’t crazy as well as a means to prove her own innocence to those who believe it was all a cover-up. Add “Tara” as a potential victim and suspect who genuinely can’t understand how Tegan was affected by any of it and you see just how dangerous what happened is. This ongoing event ruined lives, created trauma, and permanently altered how Tegan and Sara interact with their fans. And the scariest part is knowing it could have been a whole lot worse.