Sundance Film Festival 2022 | TikTok, Boom

Before we get too far, you may be forgiven for any confusion surrounding this film’s title, which unfortunately coincides with that of another recent release. Allow me to clarify: no, this is not the recent Lin-Manuel Miranda and Andrew Garfield musical drama, Tick, Tick… Boom! This is TikTok, Boom., a documentary about the rise of the popular app, TikTok, and its positive and negative impacts on society.

TikTok, Boom. is directed by Shalini Kantayya, a Sundance Institute Documentary Film fellow who premiered her film Coded Bias at last year’s Sundance festival, a film that examined racial bias in facial recognition algorithms. Returning to Sundance this year with TikTok, Boom., Kantayya continues her exploration of technology and social media’s problematic aspects, while also highlighting the opportunities it offers younger generations.

The most downloaded app in the world, TikTok has shaken up the social media landscape and taken Gen Z in particular by storm. As ‘digital natives,’ they are the first generation not to know life before the internet, and the first to grow up so immersed in it—for better or worse. In the film, TikTok influencer and activist Deja Foxx remarks, “I don’t know what it’s like to live in a world where I’m not being perceived always,” and describes her constant anxiety over it being both what she wants and what she fears the most.

In addition to Foxx, Kantayya features the stories of several other young TikTok influencers and content creators, including beatboxer Spencer X and activist Feroza Aziz, who went viral when her videos about China’s Uyghur genocide were taken down by the Chinese-owned app. Kantayya also profiles content creator Jason Zhang, who lives in China and uses Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. All of them document their rise to fame on the app, their appreciation for the opportunities and financial success it has provided them and others, creating a space for more voices to be heard, but also their own individual concerns about the app (which they inevitably shrug off).

Contrasting the positive outcomes of TikTok, Kantayya also explores the vast range of problematic impacts and criticisms of the app including political and economic issues, censorship, racial and disability biases in the algorithm, data collection, and privacy issues (particularly around children). Kantayya uses interviews with experts from around the world, anecdotes from various content creators and parents, archival footage, photos, and even a dramatic reenactment in the quest to shed light on all the possible problematic aspects. If it sounds like an overwhelming amount to cover in 90 minutes—it is.

In trying to incorporate so much, the film feels somewhat disjointed as it moves constantly from influencer story to origin story to sociopolitical issue and back again. Perhaps it’s a smart approach if the target audience is younger generations afflicted with short attention spans due to the nature of apps like TikTok and Instagram. However, it’s unclear who the target audience is. While the documentary offers some valuable insight, it largely scratches the surface of the many issues it addresses and at times fails to deliver meaningfully beyond what people familiar with TikTok and social media already know. The documentary may have been better served by having a tighter focus. That said, for those unfamiliar with TikTok or the complex nature of social media it is an intriguing examination of that world. It also prompts the need for more conversation and in-depth investigation around the wide range of issues raised.

Overall, TikTok, Boom. is a compelling and fast-paced overview of the social, security, and geopolitical issues around not just the app, but social media in general. As we move further into a world fundamentally altered by technology and social media, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. TikTok, Boom. has its world premiere at this year’s Sundance festival as part of the US Documentary Competition.