The documentary is quite entertaining and points out some dangerous pitfalls you want to watch out for if you're a man who needs help meeting women. I was one of those men, and I've studied quite a bit of pickup material. What struck me while watching the documentary was that it did not include many of the most popular coaches who happen to focus on a thing called "inner game", i.e. becoming more confident, centered and happy. For example, Owen Cook aka RSDTyler is the co-founder of Real Social Dynamics and probably the most popular pickup coach ever. He is briefly mentioned in the documentary, but what he teaches is not mentioned at all. I would say that most of his newer teachings (since The Blueprint De-Coded from 2008) are very healthy and help a lot of people. Another top dating/pickup coach who isn't mentioned is Eben Pagan aka David DeAngelo, who founded Double Your Dating. Pretty healthy teachings too, at least his inner game content such as the "Deep Inner Game" program with Dr Paul Dobransky. I hope viewers remember that the guy on the street (e.g. the guy in documentary who isn't a dating coach) is not necessarily as narcissistic and manipulative as the pickup coaches in this documentary. Maybe he's just a shy guy trying to become less shy by overcoming his fear of talking to women although there is a good deal of narcissistic people in the "game". I recommend that people actually go on YouTube and watch some videos by some pickup guys. It's not all toxic.

This documentary involves many well-known pickup artists, including Mystery and Ross Jeffries. I'll admit to skimming their material in the past, but I never actually studied or practiced any of it. They, like most pickup gurus, focused more on memorizing material, either written by them or created by yourself, and that was not for me. Instead, I read more stuff by David DeAngelo about how to improve my looks and confidence, a side of meeting women that this documentary ignores, probably because it is not controversial enough. I find this a shortcoming of the film. The pickup community that focuses on "inner game" has probably helped many thousands of guys become better with women, and without them having to act manipulative or dishonest. But exposing the pickup gurus themselves is where this film excels. And each comment by the female psychologist is pure gold. The film is tight and builds to a tense and exciting third act. I found it very much worth watching, but those who have never heard of the pickup industry should realize that this film's view is myopic, focused on the bad guys and not the good ones.

Caught a preview screening at Hot Docs earlier this year and this was without a doubt the most unsettling theatre experience of the festival. I didn't know much about the pick-up world before watching this documentary and all I can say is this film leaves no stone unturned. It begins innocently enough, with the origins of the pick up ideology back in the 1980s before moving onto the subculture as it is today. And by all accounts the industry is everywhere. In every major city across the world, it is now a billion dollar business. The film shows the ideology taught by many of these pickup schools as well as the students that sign up to the courses before diving head first into the darker sides of the culture. An extremely powerful film. Brilliantly structured, tragic and cinematic. More than worth your time.