Members of an online fan club prepare to meet face-to-face when the actors from their favorite television show schedule a rare public appearance. But they find themselves pitted against each other when a search for the number one fan is announced, with the crowning to take place at the event.

SYNOPSIS:

The members of the "Henry Adams" fan club spend all of their free time chatting with each other, even though they live all over the United States and have never met in person. This changes when two characters, who consider themselves in an online relationship, meet in person and awkwardly learn that the chemistry does not translate to the real world.

Simultaneously, the producer of "Henry Adams" is organizing a charity event in hopes of boosting the show's ratings, launching a contest to find the #1 fan so that a member of the program's cult following can be the voice of support. When the fans hear this, they all imagine themselves as the victor and immediately begin gearing their time towards producing the best audition video, to one-up the others. Meanwhile, the hierarchy in the club causes rifts among the group -- the creator of the website can grant administrative status to whoever he finds worthy and those chosen use this against others, blocking them from access to the chatroom where they all congregate.

As the story progresses, a romantic relationship blooms between two platonic online friends and we get to witness all of the characters' lives offline, allowing us to understand why they gravitate towards socializing in the virtual world. The contest winner is chosen and a fragile 15-year-old boy, who had been cruelly blocked from the chatroom when asking for personal advice, is selected. To retaliate against this decision, the fans in power positions cyber-bully him, which is revealed to be more serious as we learn it's coupled with him being bullied in high school. After negativity from all facets, the young man becomes angry and depressed, isolating even his doting mother, and contemplates suicide.

The day of the charity event arrives and all the strangers meet each other for the first time. Those who consider themselves best friends on the computer have nothing to say to each other in person. The ones who are loud and mouthy are shut down and quiet. They meet their favorite actors and instead of becoming instant friends with them, they cannot alleviate the celebrity/fan barrier. When the winner of the contest is announced on stage, everyone is surprised to see it is not the 15-year-old boy who was announced as the winner but a woman who none of them are familiar with. They get wind that the winner has taken his own life and all of his online tormentors self-reflect on how they treat people and feel guilty that their arrogance has destroyed someone's life.

Although they now have culpability for their actions for the first time, and learn firsthand how careless we can be with other people's feelings, they later get a piece of news that simultaneously relieves and outrages them. At the end of the film, they go back to their same bitter behaviors, reveling in the dictator roles they have forged for themselves and remaining unchanged as people. But one character takes a step back and realizes life is much better when you turn the computer off and live your life in reality.

The film's storyboards are available at virtualstrangersmovie.com/storyboards