Unfriended (2014)

On the one year anniversary of Laura Barns' public suicide -- a very public suicide that will live forever thanks to someone capturing it on a smart-phone video, six of her friends log-in for a Skype chat, which quickly devolves into mayhem and mass murder when an anonymous user hacks into their conversation.

Thus, the stage is set for Unfriended (2014), which is less of a found footage, after the fact reconstruction, but a real-time exercise in suspense. At least that’s the theory. In practice, well…

Now, the entire film is told through the laptop screen of Blair Lilly (Hennig), the late Laura's best friend. And as the terrorizing hacker slowly but surely winds everyone up, revealing (not so) hidden online secrets, and turning all the participants against one another, its revealed that Laura (Sossaman) committed suicide after a brutal smear and shaming campaign after someone posted an anonymous video of her completely wasted at a party.

Apparently so intoxicated on alcohol and Rohypnol, Laura wound up passing out in a pool of her own vomit, soiling herself in the process. And for the killing to stop, all the ever-dwindling knot of cybernauts must do is reveal who shot and posted the "Leaky Laura" viral video.

Originally, the cyber-killer in Leo Gabriadze’s Unfriended was supposed to be someone seeking vengeance for Laura, but I think the filmmakers ultimately made the right decision to go the supernatural route instead and make it a vengeful spirit, solving several logistical and logical problems -- like simply logging off.

Though the borderline parasitic relationship we have with our smart-tech makes one wonder if it really would be that simple. I mean, Click to find out what happens next, amIright?

This film wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be, judging by the unintentionally hilarious trailer. I'd almost even tag it as 'pretty good.' Almost, but not quite. And I find it odd that they went for an R-rating (which is unjustified), as this subject matter and approach seems tailor made for a PG-13 crowd. 

And how the hell they ever managed to clear the use of Facebook, Skype, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube for this kind of bloodbath is beyond me. Kudos to Gabriadze for pulling off the online gimmick. The execution is quite brilliant, and I love the way we know what a character is really thinking as they edit their comments before posting.

I just wish all the effort wasn't wasted on a rote plot of horrible people doing despicable things to each other -- well, in this case, themselves, thanks to the buffer of online anonymity. Here, our 'final girl' isn't what we expected, nor was the original victim.

Thus, the true horror of Unfriended is not the bloodshed but the behavior of these selfish, amoral and desensitized dipshits, which earns them a harsh lesson on the consequences of one's own actions and a friendly reminder of what goes around comes around.

Originally posted on June 4, 2015, at Micro-Brewed Reviews.

Bazelevs Production :: Blumhouse Productions / EP: Jason Blum, Alan Khamoui, Couper Samuelson / P: Timur Bekmambetov, Nelson Greaves / AP: Adam Sidman / D: Levan Gabriadze / W: Nelson Greaves / C: Adam Sidman / E: Parker Laramie, Andrew Wesman / M: Adam Malka / S: Shelley Hennig. Heather Sossaman, Matthew Bohrer, Courtney Halverson, Moses Storm, Jacob Wysocki