Starring: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Will Peltz, Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 83 mins. Reviewed in May 2015
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Though certainly not a horror film for viewers unfamiliar with the ins and outs of contemporary digital technology, ‘Unfriended’ makes the most of its limited means. And not limited in a traditional sense either – the entire story unfolds on the lead character Blair’s (Shelley Hennig) computer screen.
Blair is a regular American teen. Exposition is delivered via her web browser, which opens to a website showing the suicide of her classmate Laura Barnes on their school grounds. A YouTube clip makes it clear that her tragic demise was spurred on by some cyberbullying, particularly a video posted online showing Laura passing out drunk at a party. This particular evening marks the one-year anniversary since her death.
Blair chats on Skype to her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Storm), and soon they are sharing a call with their wider friendship group. There’s angry drunk Adam (Will Peltz), promiscuous blonde Jess (Renee Olstead), geeky joker Ken (Jacob Wysocki) and brash loudmouth Val (Courtney Halverson). There doesn’t appear to be a reason for their call, but it is a necessary set-up for the plot to kick off in earnest. They notice a seventh party in their group chat, someone using Laura’s old Skype account. Then Blair and the others begin getting messages from Laura’s Facebook account – threatening messages. They are initially sceptical, but when one of them is seemingly driven to suicide by some kind of unnatural possession, it becomes clear that this vengeful presence won’t stop until all of them pay. As their evening unfolds in real-time, it is revealed that all parties may have had more to do with Laura’s death than previously admitted.
The film’s plot is admittedly thin and extremely familiar – a group of teenagers fulfilling all the necessary stereotypes picked off one by one courtesy of a malevolent supernatural presence. However, the steps the filmmakers have taken to allow the story to play out using such a constrictive presentation are impressive, and one can’t help but think that other cutting edge directors a la Hitchcock or Hughes would have pioneered a film employing the same concept had they been in their prime today. The film manages to develop an atmosphere of fear, and I sat undoubtedly terrified for at least half the film’s slim runtime.
Despite being the film’s greatest strength, the model of ‘Unfriended’ is also its downfall. The scares become too reliant on crackly internet connections and poor audio, and while these would have certainly helped to edit what plays as one continuous take, they detract from the tension. Furthermore some elements of internet culture feel unnecessarily shoehorned in, such as a brief stop on the bizarre internet phenomenon ChatRoulette to beg strangers for help. Horror enthusiasts will likely leave feeling quietly impressed by the ambition on display, but nevertheless disappointed with the result.
The young cast are all decent, but there are no standouts. Their range is certainly tested, with their characters demanding a rush through every emotion available in a handful of minutes. Call it hyperactive filmmaking for a hyperactive generation. Finally worth mentioning is director of photography Adam Sidman, who was required to engineer from scratch shooting rigs capable of mimicking the look and feel of webcams.
All in all, ‘Unfriended’ feels very much like the first ‘desktop film’ out of the gate, one that you know will be bested by the better examples which ought to appear in its wake. Commendable on several fronts, but tough to recommend to anyone bar the more technology-literate audiences.
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