Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare Review: Harrowing Psychological Warfare

In this true crime documentary film, Kirat finds herself in a harrowing situation when her online lover turns out to have several dark and disturbing secrets that end up upending her life in ways that she couldn’t have imagined. The film has a runtime of 82 minutes.

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare Release

Imagine having a whole relationship with a person thinking that you will be getting married soon, only to realise that the person doesn’t exist. Catfish shows have become well-watched over the last couple of years and it’s opened the doors for victims all over the world to find a community to relate to and share their experiences as well as for people to become aware of the red flags when it comes to online relationships. It’s not just that victims can lose their life savings behind these scammers but the emotional toll these experiences have can be harrowing and just watching the events unfold on-screen can be haunting for viewers.

That’s true for Netflix’s newest catfish documentary film Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, which goes deep into Kirat Assi’s genuine nightmare of being in a relationship with a man who never really existed. When money is involved, one can at least blame something, but when the motive is clearly to inflict emotional pain on a person without any reason, that’s when it hurts more to watch. That’s something about this film, it’s difficult to watch because there is not clear motive for inflicting the pain on Kirat other than for psychological warfare.

The cultural context is just so important for cases such as these and the documentary does a good job of bringing that to the forefront. To be Indian and to not be married by a certain age has a lot of baggage, even now, and Kirat’s desperation to not let her parents down in front of her community plays such a pivotal role in her turning a blind eye to the red flags that kept popping up. It’s actually quite sad, the pressure of not disappointing your brown family and listening to your “ticking clock” can make people do desperate things and this is one of the biggest examples of those desperate times.

It’s easy to blame the victims in such cases, especially when you see everything in hindsight. It’s one thing to know that a person is actively being dishonest but it’s another when there is no reason to question someone. Of course, one can say that the tall tales that “Bobby” tells Kirat are too over-the-top to be true, but one can’t really fault someone for gullibility and their ability to trust in the goodness of others.

There are also always two sides to these types of scams, considering Bobby is also a victim of this mess. We hear both of their sides of this sick game and Bobby’s recounting is absolutely terrifying to hear. It goes to show that the people whose images are stolen are as much victims as the ones being scammed. One can only imagine what he felt when a hysterical, unknown woman just came to his door one day and started accusing him of stuff. It’s honestly scary and heartbreaking for everyone involved.

Final Thoughts

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is just a heartbreaking watch. As I mentioned earlier, it’s easy to blame the victims but the emotional toll that something like this can take on anyone, especially without having any reason to doubt the interactions that they are having, is harrowing to even think about. The documentary does a great job of bringing all of these different emotions to the forefront and you feel your heart hurt for both Kirat and the real Bobby. It’s a cautionary tale for all – don’t believe everything you see or hear on the internet, and especially not your family!

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