I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

In this day and age, it often feels like the internet and its media offspring were made for two types of people: exhibitionists and voyeurs. Emma Weinswig’s sophomore directorial effort, I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This, interrogates this very notion by putting an eccentric e-girl and a stereotypical podcast bro in a room together. This frank examination of influencer and internet culture is a time capsule of the current era, a blip in humanity’s existence in which oversharing, non-disclosure and embellishment can occur simultaneously.

It’s no wonder this gem of a short film has made its way to the SXSW film festival. Weinswig’s attention to detail and keen understanding of the narrative’s subject matter is apparent. Every element of this tight short film feels deeply intentional, from the title to its conclusion. I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This is true to its namesake. What began as gossip magazines and talk shows from a third-party perspective has evolved into first-person exchanges that exploit personal truth and taboo talking points for the sake of shock, entertainment and profit.

Minna (Alexis G. Zall) is a modern embodiment of this cultural phenomenon as she agrees to be a guest on her favorite podcast. Minna isn’t like other girls, though. She’s the personification of a Lana Del Rey song bundled up with a dash of depravity and a penchant for fibbing. She isn’t afraid to overshare and she’s even less fearful of admitting that she’s a liar. On the other microphone is Frank (David Levi), an equally dishonest but more earnest-presenting podcaster desperately trying to hide is obsession with Minna.

The short film is largely shot in a single location, focusing on Minna and David engaging in the type of verbal judo that only the chronically online can. That is until tension builds, and their audio exchange becomes physical…all while on air. The tension throughout the recording is palpable, uncomfortable and something that audiences will find familiarity in. There is always that one podcast that feels just a little too real. Minna and Frank do their best to grasp and maintain power over themselves, each other and the conversation – only to both lose it in a bout of passion and. perhaps, mutual loathing.

It would be easy to say that I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This is a scathing review of the terminally online, mid-pandemic world that we find ourselves living in. One where para-social relationships run rampant, and e-girls run the world – but it’s not. I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This feels like a neutral observation of narcissism at work and lets audiences make their own judgements. And this reviewer has made a judgement…I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This is a poignant reminder that we should all know less about each other.