critics consensus

Its intelligent and nuanced approach to potentially salacious material is refreshing, but PVT Chat struggles to use it in service of a meaningful story. Read critic reviews

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PVT Chat Videos

PVT Chat: Trailer 1

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PVT Chat Photos

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Movie Info

A lonely internet gambler in New York City becomes obsessed with a seductive webcam model from San Francisco. He soon embarks on a quest to see if their emotional connection is real -- or if he's just being taken for a ride.

Genre:

mystery & thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

Ben Hozie
Producer:

Oliver David
Writer:

Ben Hozie
Release Date (Theaters):

Feb 5, 2021 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Feb 9, 2021
Runtime:

1h 26m

Cast & Crew

Heather Allison

Atticus Cain

Michelle Chu

Ben Hozie
Director

Ben Hozie
Screenwriter

Oliver David
Producer

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for PVT Chat

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Critic Reviews for PVT Chat

All Critics (40) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (14)

It's a film with a slackerish mumblecore vibe, and Hozie is refreshingly grown up about sex. But it's hard to see how his film adds much to the conversation about intimacy in the internet age.

February 11, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Cath Clarke
Guardian
"PVT Chat" is at its best when it delves into the intensity of digital relationships and the ways our minds can trick us into believing the deepness of a connection formed over a computer screen.

February 11, 2021 | Rating: B- | Full Review…

Adam Graham
Detroit News
The movie ends up feeling like an older vintage of New York story, the kind of pre-gentrification indie you expect a youthful Jim Jarmusch to wander through.

February 10, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Danny Leigh
Financial Times
There are flashes of interest, and even some welcome screwball elements, but PVT Chat doesn't coalesce in a meaningful way.

February 5, 2021 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Sheila O'Malley
RogerEbert.com
Ben Hozie's wry, observational film positions a young man's repressed sexual paranoia as a reflection of a more general social malaise.

January 31, 2021 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Jake Cole
Slant Magazine
There's a ragged, on-the-hoof quality to the storytelling, and to the scrappy handheld camerawork, which evokes the hand-to-mouth high and lows of Jack's daily life.

August 24, 2020 | Full Review…

Wendy Ide
Screen International
Director Ben Hozie's graphic dive into the world of the online sex industry showcases our human need to connect with others-fetishes and all

March 4, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Morgan Rojas
Cinemacy
This is a film which begins in frenetic disarray and concludes with the same degree of uncertainty. Meet cutes have rarely been this visceral or financially dependent, yet somehow PVT Chat not only makes it work, but builds into a film of substance.

March 1, 2021 | Full Review…

Martin Carr
Flickering Myth
What the film does successfully is explore the facets and types of relationships that can blossom with internet culture.

February 24, 2021 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…

Lindsay Traves
CGMagazine
Happily, this as much a source of humour for them as it is for the viewer.

February 22, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Graham Fuller
The Arts Desk
The film's rough energy is a virtue, and there's plenty of it in Julia Fox's performance as an online dominatrix who captivates Jack. But Hozie's efforts to say something about modern romance could have used more discipline.

February 20, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)
It's kind of gross, but you won't be able to take your eyes off of it.

February 18, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Joel Harley
Starburst