Despite half of the movie being ruined for me because of my horrible movie going experience (why can’t people shut the fuck up?) Unfriended managed to turn a pretty bogus setup into a really entertaining film experience. For those of you who may have missed the trailers, Unfriended is a social media-fueled supernatural horror that takes your generic-“6 dead teens” setup to a moderately new environment. As the film begins we learn a former friend, Laura Barns, of our 6 main characters has committed suicide after a humiliating drunken video goes viral at her school. The movie takes place a year later and focuses on Blaire (Shelley Hennig), her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm), friends Jess (Renee Olstead), Adam (Will Peltz), Val (Courtney Halverson), and Ken (Jacob Wysocki) during a Skype chat. While chatting they all begin receiving strange messages from their dead friend Laura and have to play a vicious game of self-preservation to survive.
Let’s get something straight right here, Unfriended is very much a movie that speaks volumes about a society connected by social media. It’s a movie about teenage culture and done in a very teenage way in terms of tone. The entire story is told from the pov of Blaire’s computer screen, we are constantly bouncing from individual chat rooms to Skype videos. As we bounce around we get to know Blaire by the way she talks online and what she browses. I’ll admit that the dialog in this movie grated on me but in all reality that’s how teens talk now. I’m sure adults in the 1980s rolled their eyes at the language used in movies then too. Unfriended is a look into the lives of believable teens and some fans will find it interesting and smart like I did and others it will be just too annoying, and rightly so.
Unfriended isn’t the first to film a movie in such an interpersonal way via a computer screen, 2013’s The Den beat it the punch. That being said, Unfriended takes that initial idea and runs away with the whole goddamned thing. The intricate detail that went into creating this 17-year-old girl’s computer screen is incredible. From the simple tabs of “MTVs Teen Wolf” and “Shopping” to the countless Facebook pages and profiles of people who aren’t in the film at all, I was constantly looking around at the hidden gems. I’m all about details and the more the better, I felt totally immersed. I feel that watching this on the big screen was a great choice but watching this on a computer would have been virtual reality-esque.
In the realm of horror, I was overall affected by its shock value though I will say the trailer does kind of blow one of the better kills. Lingering shots always make me feel on edge, like talking to someone who won’t break eye contact, and there are a few good uses of that. From what I could tell a majority of the effects were practical which is always welcome in the genre. In particular one of the female character’s demises really made my skin crawl. My only beef is the lame final seemed to cheapen the rest of it.
Unfriended isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I can see both sides of the coin, but it worked for me. Nelson Greaves’ (FOX’s Sleepy Hollow) clever script mixed with Levan Gabriadze’s innovative directing delivers a satisfyingly creepy cyber horror that is told in a way that many can relate to. It’s also important to note that Unfriended has a very clear message about the dangers of the internet and cyber bullying. Sadly, every day a story of a teen committing suicide pops up and the cause is cyberbullying. The internet is forever.
I’ll be looking forward to the Blu-ray release on this for special features. And yeah, Unfriended isn’t the greatest title but at least they didn’t go with their other choice: Cybernatural.
