''Clickbait'' is a
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
miniseries, created by
Tony Ayres
Tony Ayres (born 16 July 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, director in television and feature film. He is most notable for his films '' Walking on Water'' and '' The Home Song Stories'', as well his work in television, includi ...
and Christian White. Ayres serves as showrunner, while
Brad Anderson,
Emma Freeman
Emma Freeman is an Australian director of television films and series. With her short film ''Lamb'', in 2002 she was the first woman to win Tropfest.
Freeman graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts.
In 2002 she wrote, produced and dir ...
, Ben Young, and Laura Besley are directors. It was released on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on August 25, 2021.
Overview
''Clickbait'' explores the dark side of social media. In one thread of the story, a father goes missing, only to appear in a
viral video
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...
holding a sign saying that he will die if the video receives 5 million views.
The series is set in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, but was mostly filmed in Melbourne, Australia.
Cast
Main
*
Zoe Kazan
Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film ''Swordswallowers and Thin Men'' (2003) and later appeared in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), ''Revol ...
as Pia Brewer, Nick’s younger sister
*
Betty Gabriel as Sophie Brewer, Nick’s wife
*
Phoenix Raei as Roshan Amiri, an Oakland Police Department detective
*
Abraham Lim
Abraham Lincoln Lim is an American film director and actor.
Early life and education
Lim attended the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he completed his BFA and an MFA in film. He grew up in Overland Park, Kansas in the 1970 ...
as Ben Park, a ruthless reporter and associate producer for GBZ Online who follows Nick's case and is determined to interview the family
*
Adrian Grenier
Adrian Sean Grenier (born July 10, 1976) is an American actor, producer, director and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of Vincent Chase in the television series ''Entourage'' (2004–2011). He has appeared in films such as ''Drive Me ...
as Nick Brewer, a family man who went missing after a video of him holding a sign that says: "I ABUSE WOMEN", then a second sign that says: "AT 5 MILLION VIEWS I DIE" went viral online and he failed to show up to work that morning
* Motell G Foster as Curtis Hamilton, a former colleague of Sophie's with whom she had an affair
*
Jessie Collins
Jessica Ann Collins (born March 8, 1983) is an American actress.
Early life
Collins was born in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. She is one of four sisters, all of whom are involved in the arts. For much of her childhood, she and her family r ...
as Emma Beesly, a woman who claimed to be Nick's mistress
Recurring
* Camaron Engels as Ethan Brewer, Sophie and Nick's older son
* Jaylin Fletcher as Kai Brewer, Sophie and Nick's younger son
*
Liz Alexander as Andrea Brewer, Pia and Nick's mother
* Becca Lish as Dawn Gleed, the administration manager at the Merritt Sports Performance Center
* Wally Dunn as Ed Gleed, Dawn's husband
*
Ian Meadows as Matt Aldin, Nick's best friend and colleague at the Merritt Sports Performance Center
*
Steve Mouzakis as Det. Zach De Luca
* Jack Walton as Vince, a patient of Pia who helps her find out what happened to Nick
*
Kate Lister as Jeannine Murphy
* Adel Della Massa as Paula
* Emily Goddard as Linda, the administration coordinator at the Merritt Sports Performance Center
* Mia Challis as Jenny
* Ezra Bix as Det. Josephson
* Salme Geransar as Det. Majano
* Dean Cartmel as Det. Feldman
* Jake Unsworth as Colin Howard
* Akosia Sabet as Bailey Quinn
*
Renee Lim
Renee Li-Yen Lim (born ) is an Australian actress, television presenter and medical doctor. She is best known for her roles as Constable Jung Lim in ''East West 101'', Mae in ''Please Like Me'' and her recurring role as Vivienne Hart in '' Th ...
as Alice, Sophie's friend who is also her attorney
* Alexis Watt as Jessica Centeno
Guest
*
Daniel Henshall
Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor, known for his work in '' Snowtown'', ''The Babadook'' and '' Turn: Washington's Spies''.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Sydney, Austr ...
as Simon Burton, the brother of a woman named Sarah Burton who committed suicide after Jeremy Wilkerson (one of Nick's alleged dating profile pseudonyms) told her to kill herself
Episodes
Production
In August 2019, it was announced
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
would produce an 8-episode series created and produced by
Tony Ayres
Tony Ayres (born 16 July 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, director in television and feature film. He is most notable for his films '' Walking on Water'' and '' The Home Song Stories'', as well his work in television, includi ...
and Christian White, with
David Heyman
David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman secured the rights to the ''Harry Potter'' film series in 1999 and went on to produce all eight installments of the franchise. He also ...
serving as producer under his
Heyday Television banner, with
Brad Anderson set as lead director. In December 2019,
Zoe Kazan
Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film ''Swordswallowers and Thin Men'' (2003) and later appeared in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), ''Revol ...
,
Betty Gabriel,
Adrian Grenier
Adrian Sean Grenier (born July 10, 1976) is an American actor, producer, director and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of Vincent Chase in the television series ''Entourage'' (2004–2011). He has appeared in films such as ''Drive Me ...
and Phoenix Raei joined the cast. In February 2020, Abraham Lim,
Jessie Collins
Jessica Ann Collins (born March 8, 1983) is an American actress.
Early life
Collins was born in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. She is one of four sisters, all of whom are involved in the arts. For much of her childhood, she and her family r ...
,
Ian Meadows,
Daniel Henshall
Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor, known for his work in '' Snowtown'', ''The Babadook'' and '' Turn: Washington's Spies''.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Sydney, Austr ...
, Motell Foster, Jaylin Fletcher and Cameron Engels joined the cast.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in December 2019. Production on the series was suspended in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. In November 2020, the series resumed filming in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. ''Clickbait'' was released on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on August 25, 2021.
Reception
Critical reception
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports a 58% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 31 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With an array of flashy, half-formed ideas and thin characterizations, ''Clickbait'' is more akin to its namesake than the deeper show it aspires to be."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 48 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Roxana Hadadi writing for ''
RogerEbert.com'' wrote "''Clickbait'' is a reminder of why Netflix series became such hits in the first place. A cast of recognizable, serviceable actors dive with melodrama and zeal into a narrative that defies logical sense but moves at a breakneck pace, ends on cliffhangers like clockwork, and incorporates just enough zigs and zags to keep viewers guessing."
Adam Sweeting at ''
The Arts Desk
''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...
'' described the series as a "fiendishly cunning thriller" and concluded that "the way Ayres and White handle their final-reel reveal is a masterclass in advanced whodunnitry. They even helpfully lob in a subsidiary could-be villain as a decoy. We are left to ponder whether ''Clickbait'' is itself clickbait."
Saloni Gajjar writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' criticized the show for its "ridiculous bait-and-switch twists and red herrings, offering very little else."
James Croot writing for
www.stuff.co.nz wrote that "as a police procedural and heart-stopping horror, it is aces, evoking memories of David Fincher’s finest (Seven, Panic Room), ratcheting up the stakes as the video’s ticker goes into overdrive."
Viewership
Between August 23 and September 12, 2021, ''Clickbait'' was the most-viewed original streaming title in the US for three consecutive weeks according to
Nielsen Holdings
Nielsen Holdings plc is an American information, data and market measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 44,000 people worldwide.
The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and use ...
''Clickbait'' was the most viewed series on Netflix in the United States in September 2021, and the fourth biggest show globally.
''Clickbait'' was the most viewed series on Netflix in the UK in August and September 2021.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that ''Clickbait'' hit the No.1 spot on Netflix in more than 20 countries.
References
External links
*
*
{{Netflix original ended series (2019–present)
2021 American television series debuts
2021 American television series endings
2021 Australian television series debuts
2021 Australian television series endings
2020s American drama television miniseries
2020s Australian television miniseries
English-language Netflix original programming
Kidnapping in television
Television series about families
Television series about social media
Television series by Matchbox Pictures
Television series by Universal Television
Television series created by Tony Ayres
Television shows filmed in Australia
Television shows set in Oakland, California
Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic