The festival season is in full swing as we transition from Sundance and Berlinale to SXSW in Austin, TX. Making its world premiere in the “Documentary Spotlight” section, director Sara Robin’s film, Your Attention Please, is a must-see documentary that addresses concerns about children’s screen time and the accountability of social media.
Even as recently as Monday, the Associated Press featured an article titled, “Young people are turning to old-school hobbies to get off their phones,” proving that even the youth acknowledge there’s a problem. With the rise of artificial intelligence and social media, children are among the most vulnerable in society.
The film not only raises awareness about a growing problem but also serves as a rallying cry for change, starting with legislative action. Anytime lawmakers came close to passing legislation, the tech industry would quietly bring progress to a halt. As seen in the film, big tech spent $90 million in lobbying fees to disrupt the progress of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
Attachment to phones and social media is no accident. Experts explain how the “attention economy” is affecting families and destroying homes. The attention economy treats human attention as a scarce commodity, where online platforms and advertisers compete to monetize user engagement (time, clicks, views). This attention serves as a currency for platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube to drive ad revenue.
The documentary features a wide range of professionals and those fighting the good fight to protect our most vulnerable (children). It boasts firsthand accounts from Trisha Prahbu (founder of ReThink), Sherry Turkle (champion of the internet in the ’90s), Vivek Murthy (former U.S. Surgeon General), and a long list of others. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the film features Frances Haugen, the well-known “Facebook Whistleblower,” who testified against the social media giant. Her testimony revealed that the company consistently prioritized profit over user safety, knowingly allowing the spread of harmful information and content to children.
Kristin Bride and Amy Neville are just two examples of parents who lost children due to digital influences. The film’s strength stems from its balance of well-knowledged specialists and well-versed victims. The list of parents who’ve lost children to online bullying or the like is too long and continues to grow. Weaving between the grim and “gloom and doom” of the matter, it’s the extensive amount of experts featured, capped by a bright outlook to close, that sets this documentary above the rest.
Your Attention Please gets a 9.5 out of 10. If you take anything away from the film, it should be that our attention is being monetized. Even within our own government, people should learn that it’s much easier to focus on profit now and deal with a court decision years down the line. Principal Kevin McCaskill and Ilya Kneppel, co-founder of The Offline Club, give hope to audiences invested in their kids’ interests. Now more than ever, children and even adults are putting down their phones to live in the present and enjoy the lives they’ve been given. Robin’s attention to detail is extraordinary.
SCHEDULE:
Thursday, March 12, at 2:30 PM – Alamo Lamar 9 (World Premiere, Live Intro, Q&A)
Friday, March 13, at 2:30 PM – Alamo Lamar 7 (Live Intro + Q&A)
Friday, March 13, at 2:30 PM – Alamo Lamar 2
Saturday, March 14, at 6:00 PM – AFS Cinema (Live Intro + Q&A)
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Your Attention Please
Category: Documentary
Country: USA
Director: Sara Robin
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Trailer: Watch
U.S. Release Date: March 12, 2026