SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Our numbers are dwindling. Those of us who survived life without the aid of a cell phone, much less a smartphone. Man, that was a long time ago. In his documentary Disconnect Me, filmmaker Alex Lykos decides to go on what he calls a “digital detox” to see how engrained smartphones have become in our lives.
Australian filmmaker Alex Lykos turns his cameras on and decides to conduct an experiment. As an experiment, he locks his phone and tablet in a safe for thirty days to demonstrate people’s reliance on their devices. Cellphones, tablets, video games…everything. Armed with only a rotary phone and an old-school television, how long can Lykos go?
Much like Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, Disconnect Me is as much educational as it is personal. First, we get into the numbers as the average person engages with their phones 2,600 times a day for a total of six hours a day. Our smartphones have become essential in our daily lives. From reading the news and finding directions to keeping up with friends, we rely on them heavily.
Lykos covers many aspects of the smartphone society with its unintended effects. Living under the same roof as our loved ones, we ignore one another for our electronic devices. This phenomenon is commonly known (at least in Australia) as “phubbing.” Children are introduced to devices at a young age, where they watch “content” and play video games. Some of these games incorporate gambling elements. With AI rapidly growing, it’s only a matter of time before we ourselves become cyborgs to the system.
Sans cell phone, Lykos quickly realizes just how his and our daily lives depend on smartphones. He almost gets into a car accident trying to read a map on the road. His father is irate that it takes days for Alex to return his call when it used to take seconds. He couldn’t pay his camera crew because the bank required multi-factor authentication.

“…he locks his phone and tablet in a safe for thirty days to demonstrate how reliant people have become on their devices.”
Then, there are the social questions surrounding cell phones. Should cell phones be banned in public schools? Why is the leading lobbyist for the wireless industry head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)? What effect do devices have on the mental health and self-image of our youth?
Lykos also goes in-depth into the physical and mental issues surrounding our devices. Checking devices before and after you fall asleep affects achieving a night of deep sleep. Most people are on their phones while on the toilet…I’m sure this is bad. Then there’s the hourly dopamine hits we get from the steady stream of notifications.
Lykos lists the legitimate benefits of cell phones in a documentary that mostly warns about the harmful effects of devices. For example, when you don’t have a phone, your interactions with others drop drastically…drastically! Can our hero make it to his self-imposed thirty-day cellphone fast? The answer is not quite so obvious.
I found Disconnect Me, a documentary by Alex Lykos, to be fascinating and engaging, despite not knowing who he is or how popular he is in Australia. Lykos has thoroughly researched and addressed most of my concerns regarding cell phones. He is a likable person who is reflective enough to focus on the essential aspects of his physical, mental, and social life.
The most insightful moments of Disconnect Me come from his interview with teens. One young youth has the wherewithal to discard his smartphone in favor of a flip phone, realizing that the true value of a cell phone is communication and that everything else can have potentially harmful effects.
To be honest, one of the best benefits of Disconnect Me being made in Australia is that I feel I have a thorough and honest examination of the subject. I think a documentary like this in the States would have a political bent slapped onto it. I may not agree with all of Lykos’ conclusions, but there are more than enough issues and ideas to chew on.
Disconnect Me screened at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.