Clickbait Delivers a Thrilling Murder-mystery Story with Great Performances

By Tom Soares

The mysterious disappearance of a seemingly good husband and father becomes an electrifying race against time, when an ominous video uploaded on the internet claims the victim would be executed once it reached five million views. That’s the heartstopping and breathtaking premise of Clickbait, Netflix latest original series.

Created by Tony Ayres and Christian White, and starring Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick) and Adrian Grenier (The Devil Wears Prada), the series shows what happens to a determined and rowdy young nurse named Pia Brewer (Kazan) and her mixed-race family, after the disappearance of her older brother, Nick (Grenier), who’s a physical therapist.

When a terrifying video is uploaded to ClipFind, a website similar to real life YouTube, claiming that Nick would be murdered once the view count reaches five million, Pia and Oakland Police Department detective, Roshan Amiri (Phoenix Raei), rush to find him before it is too late.

Electrifying from the get-go and highly binge-watchable, Clickbait is the perfect combination between fast-paced storytelling and character development, never holding back on the action or shying away from exposing the most scandalous bits of information about Nick and his family. 

Ayres and White, and their team of writers, carefully crafted every single one of the show’s eight episodes to focus on each important character separately, which increased the sense of intimacy throughout the series and welcomed viewers into a most meticulous, social media aided investigation, where no rock can be left unturned.

Not surprisingly, Clickbait brings some very powerful performances. Zoe Kazan shines as the complicated, independent and sharp-tongued Pia, a young nurse who unbeknownst to her attempts to hook up with Amiri via app the night before Nick’s disappearance. 

A devout and ambitious Muslin man who’s separated from his wife and the father of a little boy, Amiri dreams of becoming a homicide detective, however he’s constantly passed down on promotions and disrespected by that division's senior office. Australian actor Phoenix Raei perfectly embraced his part, delivering a very strong and poignant performance as a man who’s not afraid to bend the rules to get what he wants.

However the most powerful performances in Clickbait comes from Betty Gabriel, who plays Nick Brewer’s wife Sophie, a level-headed mother of two and high school teacher. Sophie’s world is turned upside down after Nick goes missing, and as very damning secrets from their past comes to light. Gabriel, who gave a chilling performance as the housekeeper Georgina in Jordan Peele’s Get Out, gives an outstanding and emotional performance here too as a wife who’s searching for justice and questioning her entire married life at the same time.

Among other great performances it is worth highlighting Adrian Grenier’s very short participation as Nick Brewer, and Abraham Lim as Ben Park, a local TV reporter with very questionable work ethics. Both Nick’s and Ben’s storylines perfectly illustrate how dangerous social media, online dating apps and the internet as a whole can become when not used properly. 

With a very electrifying story and close to perfect execution, Clickbait is a great watch for anyone who loves a good murder-mystery. Now available on Netflix, Clickbait is a sure win for the streaming giant, and guaranteed entertainment for anyone who dares to immerse themselves into a thrilling and breathtaking investigation.