Film
Wrinkles the Clown
A documentary about the viral creepy-clown phenomenon of 2016, when a mysterious figure in a grotesque costume terrorized America's collective unconscious. It's part internet archaeology, part genuine unease, tracing how a regional performance act exploded into mass panic. For anyone fascinated by how folklore mutates in the age of social media.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like documentaries that follow an odd real-life character without quite deciding whether to laugh at him or look away, and you don't mind your unease arriving tangled up with jokes.
Skip it if you want a documentary that explains its subject or keeps a steady grip on your sympathy; this one is loose, sometimes uncomfortable, and happy to stay with its strangeness.
What it asks of you: Short at about 75 minutes, it moves at a loose, unhurried pace and asks you to sit with awkward moments rather than be guided past them.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz2014
Chronicles how a brilliant activist became a symbol of internet idealism and government overreach. If you want to understand how online movements crystallize around a single figure, this is essential.
But It's a tragedy without redemption, and the pacing can feel didactic rather than gripping. Heavy subject matter delivered without lightness.
The Act2019
Documents the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case through docudrama, capturing how a fabricated illness became an internet sensation and a murder. The same DNA: internet fame, distortion, and something genuinely disturbing underneath.
But The true crime angle is darker and more personal than Wrinkles. If you want something lighter, this goes places you might not want to follow.
Fyre2019
Traces how a fraudulent music festival became a cultural moment through slick marketing and social media hype. Same year, same obsession with how internet narratives take over reality.
But It's more tragicomedy than horror. If you're after genuine unease rather than schadenfreude, the tone doesn't quite match.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Wrinkles the Clown
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Ghostland2018
Both explore how fear works when you can't trust your own perception of what's real versus performed. Ghostland is what Wrinkles might feel like from inside the terror.
A horror film about childhood trauma and family secrets that unfolds in a house full of grotesque memorabilia and haunting visitations. It shares Wrinkles' interest in fear as performance and memory as unreliable.
But It's formally fractured and deliberately confusing; narrative clarity dissolves. Also: genuinely disturbing rather than documentary-distant. This is not analytical—it's immersive.
More like this (7)
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer2019
Three episodes following internet detectives hunting a criminal through crowdsourced investigation. Captures the collective energy and moral ambiguity of online vigilantism in real time.
But The subject matter involves real animal cruelty. It's darker and more brutal than the clown phenomenon; it will sit differently with you.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend2015
A musical comedy-drama about obsession, parasocial relationships, and the gap between internet personas and reality. Uses genre subversion to explore how we mythologize strangers.
But It's comedic where Wrinkles is eerie, and you need to invest across four seasons. Totally different register and a massive time commitment.
Tickled2016
A doc that starts as absurdist comedy and curdles into genuine dread. Two filmmakers follow a rabbit hole of competitive tickling into something disturbing and organized.
But The tonal shift is jarring and intentional, which some find brilliant and others find manipulative. It doesn't settle on a single mood.
The Toys That Made Us2017
Examines how a cute character became a global phenomenon and vessel for projection. Part of understanding how characters (threatening or innocent) colonize the collective imagination.
But It's wholesome and nostalgic where Wrinkles is unsettling. The connection is conceptual rather than tonal; some might find that mismatch frustrating.
Assassination Nation2018
A film about viral culture, mob psychology, and how quickly a community turns violent when given permission. Aesthetically gorgeous and narratively messy in ways that mirror internet chaos.
But It's deliberately provocative and formally experimental. If you want clarity or traditional structure, it actively resists that.
Cam2018
Like Wrinkles, it's about a persona that escapes its creator's control and takes on a life of its own. But it's fiction making the internet horror literal, where Wrinkles documents it happening in real time.
A horror film about a cam girl whose identity gets stolen and impersonated online. It's about digital selves, parasocial relationships, and the uncanny valley of seeing yourself replaced.
But It's sexually explicit and deeply uncomfortable about internet labor and objectification. Not a metaphorical take on these themes—viscerally present throughout.
The Midnight Gospel2020
Both investigate how narratives crystallize in digital space and how the absurd and the serious live next to each other online. Wrinkles asks 'how did this happen?' Midnight Gospel asks 'what does it mean?'
An animated series where a podcaster travels through bizarre digital worlds having conversations about grief, death, and meaning. Wildly inventive, visually surreal, and surprisingly moving underneath the chaos.
But It's abstract and dreamlike; if you want coherent plot, you won't find it. Also: deeply philosophical, which some find pretentious and others find cathartic.
People
Cast
- Lillian GrubbsJamie Mason
D.B. LambertWrinkles the Clown- Brett AbramsonSelf
- George HoldenSelf
Directing
- Michael Beach NicholsDirector
Writing
- Christopher K. WalkerWriter
- Michael Beach NicholsWriter
Production
- Christopher K. WalkerProducer
- Michael Beach NicholsProducer