Nicholas Carr, in his eye-opening book "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," has poignantly observed how "When we're online, we're often oblivious to everything else going on around us. The real world recedes as we process the flood of symbols and stimuli coming through our devices."

"Disconnect" sets out to portray a society so immersed in the virtual that it's numb to the physical. "Disconnect" also wants to be Paul Haggis' "Crash" (2004) so badly it hurts; it's even got the same modus operandi — disparate characters scattered about a city whose lives intersect in surprising and often tragic ways. While "Crash" took on the theme of racism and its consequences, "Disconnect" moves in a different direction, looking at how our online identities boomerang to impact our actual lives.

The Internet, we are told, is responsible for greater human connectivity than ever before. But if you've ever come home to a partner immersed in Farmville or had lunch with an old friend who has more conversation with his Twitter feed than with you, then you know the potential for alienation is all too clear.