Web Junkie, opening at the Film Forum on August 6th via Kino Lorber, is the only documentary to ever shed light on the issue of internet addiction. Co-directors Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia managed to gain access to a boot camp outside of Beijing called Daxing Boot Camp where boys and girls ages 14 through 19 are treated for internet addiction. Parents, as it turns out, also get their own treatment in the process. Observing the patients during their withdrawal phase is quite heartbreaking and even a bit frightening given how distant they seem from the real world. Gradually, they adapt to the real world, but not all of them succeed to---some attempt to escape the boot camp and go back to playing video games. One of the boys admits that he's played video games on the computer for a whopping 30 hours. The co-directors do an adequate job of getting inside the mind of these internet-addicted patients so that you understand why they became addicted to begin with. Therapy sessions with the patients, a therapist and the patients' parents reveals a lot about where the root cause of their problems originate. To be fair, though, Web Junkie doesn't delve deeply into those root causes as much as it could have, but at least it remains both intimate and illuminating. What about recidivism once someone is released? You most likely will question whether or not one of its newly released patients will end up with internet addiction yet again. You'll probably also wonder albeit frighteningly whether internet addiction is as much of a problem in America as it is in China, and if it will get worse before it gets better. Bravo to the filmmakers for shedding light on a timely issue that many people can relate to to some degree.

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