Due for release next year, the team behind a powerful new documentary have announced that it will be distributed by the theatrical distribution specialist for award-winning cinema documentaries and feature films, Cosmic Cat. The festival and wider distribution dates will be unveiled in the new year.
Molly Vs the Machines is the personal story of Ian Russell and his unrelenting battle for safer online environments and accountability from the tech giants that dominate – and too often endanger – our daily lives. Ian lost his 14 year-old daughter Molly Russell after she was exposed to extensive self-harm content on social media, something the Coroner found had contributed to her death, having been drawn into a world of dangerous online content.
Directed by two-time Sundance winner and Emmy-nominee Marc Silver, and produced together with Kat Mansoor for Snowstorm Productions and Natalie Humphreys for Storyboard Studios, the documentary has been developed over several years, in close collaboration with the Russell family who established the Molly Rose Foundation in Molly’s name.
Co-written by Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, the film follows the trail of two narratives and their devastating convergence, examining from the perspective of the film’s contributors what happened to Molly, and exploring their analysis of how the economic logic behind Big Tech may have fuelled an algorithmic spiral with tragic consequences.
From a teenager’s suburban bedroom to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, Molly Vs the Machines is the story of a heartbroken father’s quest to uncover the truth behind his daughter's death and his fightback against how the most powerful corporations of the modern age operate.
Ged Fitzsimmons, Managing Director of Cosmic Cat, said: “Since our founding in 2016, Cosmic Cat has proudly championed urgent social impact stories. From national campaigns for Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake toFrom Ground Zero, an urgent cry for humanity in Gaza, our titles empower people to call out and challenge injustice.
“Given the growing crises in online safety, privacy, and democracy, no story seems as urgent as Molly Russell's. We are honoured to be working with Marc Silver, Snowstorm Productions and Storyboard Studios, to bring Molly vs the Machines to cinemas across the UK in 2026.”
Molly Vs the Machines was funded with support from Channel 4, Luminate, Screen Scotland, Empathy AI, Placeholder Films, The Filmmaker Fund, Doc Society and Ford Foundation JustFilms.
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Image credits: Still courtesy of Storyboard Studios