Unfriended Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: While in a Skype chat, teens are forced to admit their crimes or they will be killed by an unseen force.

Review: This is yet another new horror movie that has audiences divided; you either love it or hate it. For me, I was pleasantly surprised by the story and how suspenseful it managed to be. I think a lot of the hate is due to the characters being spoiled brat teenagers and the use of annoying social media sites (which are, admittedly, a blight to humanity). At a glance, this film does appear to be pandering to the ADHD crowd of braindead zombies, but, I assure you, that would be a gross misconception; a good example of that kind of trash would be the retarded "Scream" TV show. This film, however, takes itself quite seriously and digs deep into the horrible things people will do to one other. If you think this movie glamorizes these dumb social media sites, or the drones who frequent them, you're way off. You just need to get past the surface level of the film's opening, which does parade shallow characters, but they are slowly, and methodically, dismantled by their killer with sadistic glee. Hell, I'd say this movie is a bitch-slap to that ADHD crowd and presented subtly enough that they wouldn't even understand it!

If you've watched the trailer you essentially understand the general premise. The film is told from the perspective of an open laptop and the events transpire through the usage of various websites and computer programs. It might sound lame or even pretentious, but they work with it quite well and the events have a flow that makes sense in this context. In fact, a lot of the ideas feel original and innovative. The story focuses on a girl who committed suicide the year before after a video of her shitting herself made the rounds of the internet; she couldn't take the bullying and harassment that followed especially when most of it was coming from her so-called friends. I do like how they handled this aspect since it wasn't overly preachy, and they left certain details to the suicide vague enough to draw various conclusions.

Eventually the main girl, Blaire, and her friends are drawn into a Skype chat with a mysterious user claiming to be the dead girl. It shouldn't be a surprise that the killer is supernatural considering the original title was intended to be "Cybernatural." It would have been nice if they kept it ambiguous in this department, but, let's be honest, there was no way to make the events unfold without plot holes if it weren't a ghostly killer. It was already a ridiculous stretch of the imagination that all these characters are home alone and have no siblings--so I can overlook directly stating that the killer is really a ghost. Regardless, the teens try to act tough and are full of typical bravado as you would expect until the killer starts to do things they can't explain and reveal their dirty secrets. Before you can even scream for Sam and Dean to save the day, the characters start to get picked off one by one in rather creepy ways.

With each subsequent death, the secrets revealed progressively become darker and more fucked up as you realize these are horrible people. You will definitely be rooting for the ghostly killer...I know I was. Speaking of which, the killer is really funny! The ironic emoticons, the sarcastic jokes, and the general toying with the teens was a delight to behold. Assuming the ghost really was the dead girl, she either would have been awesome in life or she became one twisted bitch in death...in the best of ways, of course. One important aspect in highlighting how big of assholes these people are was the ease to which they betray one another. Blaire is definitely the worst of the bunch so it should come as no surprise she was saved for last to be killed; she's a lying and cheating bitch who certainly got what she deserved. And seriously, if your girlfriend has, on the ready, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Tumblr, Forever 21, Teen Wolf, Pinterest, and fucking Jezebel, all while using a Mac...uhhhh...dump her...IMMEDIATELY. Those are the kind of red flags that should have your spidey sense tingling.

By the end, everyone is killed off until Blaire remains--holding back one last secret. So, beyond petty bullshit, Blaire also cheated on her boyfriend, tried to cheat more to see if it "was a fluke," betrayed the suicide girl's trust as long time friends and knowing she was molested, betrayed everyone as they were being killed by the ghost including her boyfriend, pretended to be fake accounts trolling the suicide girl, knew what everyone else was doing to this girl and found it funny, but she was the person who set in all into motion and was the cameraman all along. And she still claims to be a good person! Wow. What a little sweetheart. In the film's final shot, Blaire hears something in her room when the laptop is suddenly shut. Keep in mind, this is the audience's perspective so it comes shockingly. But, instead of ending it right there, they do throw in one last shot of a corny-looking ghost getting Blaire. Ehhh, they might have been pushing it, but I jumped a little when the laptop shut as I was not expecting it at all. Either way, it made for a satisfying conclusion to the events. One last thing to mention was a cool subplot where Blaire reads a blog about not answering messages from the dead. This adds a layer of mythology to the film reminiscent of J-horror and their endless array of urban legends. They've said there will be a sequel so I'm hoping they explore more about this blog and maybe make this a kind of ongoing phenomenon.

It's tough to say whether or not someone will enjoy this film since a lot of that enjoyment may depend on your tolerance level for social media. If you can overlook that grievance or appreciate it altogether, this is a surprisingly original film with a lot of good ideas. Sure, there have been similar films but there is enough new ideas presented to keep you interested. Plus, you can't deny that this film was trying to experiment and offer audiences a new experience whether or not you think they failed to deliver. They created a successfully ominous tone and kept you thoroughly engaged with the mystery. The nuanced details add to the value of repeat viewings as you may want to catch those as well. There are plenty of problems, and some obvious continuity issues, but I don't feel they are to the degree others make them out to be. I'd recommend giving this film a chance and go into it with an open mind.

Notable Moment: When Blaire and Adam reveal that each was sent a paper that, when shown to someone else, would kill the other individual. When they were trying to describe what was printed on the paper, it definitely hypes up the curiosity.

Final Rating: 7/10