Director Ewan Waddell met his girlfriend Liuba in 2022 after she fled war torn Ukraine for Berlin.  As her social media feed flooded with images of her homeland under siege, a strange thing happened.  Instagram created a highlight reel for her. Normal reels would be a typical collage of pet photos or happy vacation memories. But this reel was graphic photos of war set to the upbeat tune Wabi Sabi (Good Good Time) by the Hightops.  This juxtaposition of optimism layered onto her trauma made Liuba feel ‘absurd.’

In The Longer You Bleed, Waddell interviews some of Liuba’s other displaced Gen-Z compatriots to see how their exposure to social media has affected them during the war.  Some feel anger and lash out.  Some post humorous memes and videos as a coping mechanism, including soldiers on the front line. While the use of some social media helped many at the onset to stay informed, it eventually turned into information overload. One subject calls it ‘pornography of war’ with no censorship, no shortage of horrors on display.

But, how much is too much when it comes to these images of war?  How much damage is it doing to the psyche?  The filmmakers don’t postulate an answer, even as they acknowledge this film might be feeding the same machine. However, their use of social media posts and aforementioned reels are successful at showing just how desensitized we’ve become.  While ‘doomscrolling’ through our socials seems almost normal now, it only serves to increase anxiety.  Simultaneously, it makes us numb to the shocking images and horrific reality for those in Ukraine, and other war torn nations.  Do these social media posts truly make us more sympathetic, or are we lost in compassion fatigue?   The Longer You Bleed will effectively have you asking yourself this very question.