Is Netflix's Clickbait based on a true story?
3 September 2021, 16:24
Is Clickbait based on true events? Find out if the Netflix thriller is a true story...
Clickbait has shot up the Netflix charts since it dropped last month, and we're absolutely obsessed with the thriller series.
It follows the story of a family man named Nick (Adrian Grenier), who is happily married to wife Sophie (Betty Gabriel). When Nick's sister Pia (Zoe Kazan) is at work, she is shown a viral video that shows Nick holding up a sign saying: “I abuse women. At five million views, I die.” - and it quickly emerged Nick has been kidnapped.
Pia and Sophie quickly go on a mission to find Nick, and soon discover that he may not have been the man they thought he was...
Many viewers may be wondering if the story is based on any true events - here's what we know...
Is Clickbait a true story?
Clickbait is a work of fiction, but the story is based on a few real-life stories of internet crime and catfishing.
The show's co-creator Tony Ayres told Variety: “One of [those stories] was obviously catfishing, and we were particularly baffled and intrigued by the instances of women impersonating men.
"People can fall down these quite innocent rabbit holes, particularly with the internet, particularly now, and unleash surprising and sometimes tragic real world consequences."
He added: "In the age of the internet in particular, everyone has secret lives.
"Sometimes those secrets are untoward, sometimes they’re quite benign, but there are bits of ourselves we show and bits of ourselves that we don’t show… There’s a real blurring of those two things."
Ayres hasn't revealed what specific real-life internet crimes he drew inspiration from, but he did previously open up about the process of creating the show to Entertainment Weekly.
He said: "We became fascinated with the idea of the new categories of crime that have sprung up since the internet has taken over our lives.
"[We] went away and did this phenomenal research document where he scoured the world for these kinds of crimes when the virtual leaks into the actual and has a deep impact on human beings.
"[We, therefore] decided to make our show based on a number of real crimes that had actually happened."
Ayres continued: "I remember the second day of the [writers'] room, we were talking about these crimes that we were really fascinated by.
"And then I just had this moment where I thought, 'If we do this, this, this, this, and this, that's how it's going to play out.'
"And that's pretty much what it was. My brain is quite mathematical."
Is there a trailer for Clickbait?
There is! You can watch the trailer below:
Watch the official trailer for Clickbait
