I-Lived is the newest film from director Frank Khalfoun (Maniac, P2). It’s a story about Josh (Jeremiah Watkins), a Stanford graduate, who other than his degree doesn’t have much going for him. His girlfriend recently broke up with him, he’s months behind on his rent and he’s trying to make it as a YouTube star with his channel about app reviews but unfortunately only about a hundred or so people subscribe. Back home Josh’s parents are in a constant struggle as his mom battles cancer. Yeah, Josh has a pretty rough life at the moment.
The film opens up with Josh recording a new review video for a new self-help app called I-Lived. The idea behind the app is that you input a goal and the app will notify you with new tasks to help you accomplish your goal. You have to record videos of you completing each tasks and upload them to monitor your progress. Josh explains in his review that he used it to try and get six-pack abs but unfortunately it did not work and he ultimately recommends passing on the app.
Flash forward to later that night. Josh is at a bar and he has yet to delete I-Lived. The app picks up on his location and notifies him to take a picture of a girl he likes and the app will help him get her. Josh surveys the room and spots Greta (Sarah Power). He takes the picture, uploads it to the app and before you know it Josh is taking Greta home.
This is just the beginning for Josh. Shortly after he and Greta begin dating his YouTube page explodes. Things continue to go up for Josh as he gets offered a job, his landlord stops harassing him for the rent and his mom starts to get better. Convinced this change in fortune is a result of his own doing and not the app, Josh deletes the app.
Bad move Josh.
Shortly after deleting the app Josh catches Greta with another guy. Then his followers decline and the job offer falls through. He landlord starts breathing down his neck again and his mom’s cancer returns, this time worse than before. Naturally Josh decides to give the app another go but this time the tasks assigned to him are much more sinister.
There’s a lot of good in I-Lived. The idea itself is quite creative and a nice play on the modern world. In fact I’m surprised it hasn’t been done before. The film also has a lot of style. Much like he did with the Maniac remake, Khalfoun takes a new creative approach to his storytelling. Much of the film is either YouTube videos or takes place on some type of computer screen or monitor. Even if you don’t like the movie, you have to hand it to Khalfoun for showing once again that he’ll take a risk and try something new.
The star of I-Lived though is Watkins. He’s brilliant. Watkins brings so much charm and energy to the movie. He’s a likable, relatable guy. You want to see Josh come out on top, especially once his life begins to take that dark spiral. That’s all thanks to the terrific performance from Watkins.
What holds I-Lived back from being a great horror movie is the actual script. The concept and idea is solid, the script just needed some tweaking. The interaction and dialogue between some of the characters, particularly that of Josh and his friend Bobby (Christopher Mena), is a bit silly and over the top. It doesn’t always feel natural.
The story had the chance to get really dark but ended up being a bit of a missed opportunity. There is a bit of social commentary that is nice, but I don’t think it takes it far enough. This is a personal preference more than anything, but I wanted more. The ending is a bit of a letdown as well. The final shot itself is awesome, but where the story ends sort of feels like there wasn’t an ending.
While watching I-Lived was an enjoyable experience, in the end I felt a little disappointed. I appreciate Khalfoun continuing to attempt new things and I think Watkins is a star in the making but the film had a real chance to be something special and unfortunately it never quite gets there and that’s a shame.
I-Lived is available on DVD from XLrator Media.