This is one detox that even Gwyneth Paltrow would have trouble completing. Director Alex Lykos makes a persuasive argument to cut ties with the invisible chains of your phone in his social issue documentary, Disconnect Me. Using himself as a guinea pig, Alex embarks on a 30-day experiment of being screen-free, although TV is allowed for sanity’s sake. Considered by some a “necessary evil,” our attachment to our iPhones has no doubt risen to unhealthy levels and Alex’s attempt to break audiences of this technology’s stronghold is an admirable one. However, I’ll be the first to admit that as soon as the film ended, I opened up my phone to add this to my Letterboxd watchlist.

How else would a small, independent feature like Disconnect Me get any attention if the social channels that we access via phones and tablets were non-functional? Alex dually notes that while phones are more often than not a distraction in modern life, there is most definitely a time and a place for their existence. The film begins with a brief history of the iPhone and incorporates some staggering facts that had me on high alert. Disconnect Me states, through voiceover narration and simple graphics, that the average human touches their phone 2,600 times a day and averages over 6 hours of cumulative screen time. What’s even more frightening, phones have reduced our attention span to 8 seconds, which is less than that of a goldfish.

Through Alex’s 30-day experiment–which required his phone, laptop, and computer to be locked away in a safe, he felt the withdrawals of easy communication with his family more intensely than his desire to go on social media. He was stressed about missing important communications from his father or his wife and found that relying on an old-school rotary phone just wasn’t cutting it.

Disconnect Me, which made its World Premiere at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, has the very specific look of an MTV doc from the mid-2000s. It is not the most sophisticated in terms of style or production quality, but the story at the heart of the film is one worth celebrating. Interestingly, the film takes intentional pauses and asks audiences to scan a QR code answering various questions, like whether we believe smartphones should be banned in schools. It’s a forward-thinking approach, albeit a little contradictory given the central message of the film.

It’s no surprise to discover that there are negative physical and mental consequences of being preoccupied with a phone all day. The people Alex interviews confirm that their health and overall awareness dip when glued to their devices, and I’m sure in one way or another, every audience member can relate to this. Disconnect Me is a valiant exercise in exploring life outside of one’s comfort zone, and it leaves a positive impact in its wake.