Unfriended

Universal Pictures

Concept horror films always make a lot of money. Found footage, throwback, exorcism, haunted house, and possession trends have all stemmed from single films that have made a lot of money. "Unfriended" is one of the first horror films to take place entirely on the screen of a Mac computer. Everything we see is from our lead character's point of view, and because of this storytelling device the film feels very limited by what it can show and do. The choices made to correct these oversights are unbearably stupid.

I enjoyed this film throughout because of the visual choice of using apps, real website, and Skype throughout. Besides the obvious guilt pleasure of seeing these sites cameo in the film, every other choice made was terrible. The characters are all terrible people who make dumb or unrealistic decisions that oftentimes lead to their demise. The entire film feels unrealistic and padded with demeaning characters who are trashy, wanton idiots with little awareness and obnoxious mean streaks. While it's admirable to make a film where technology is in the forefront of the story, it would make more sense to utilize that technology correctly. The main character knows nothing about technology and oftentimes does things that make little sense to anyone watching.

 The source of their misery is an old video one of them posted a year ago, which led to a friend's suicide. The supposed ghost of that girl haunts them and kills them throughout the film. Thinking that there was a possible villain attached to this myth, and they were somehow getting into these people's homes and computers, I thought this was an interesting concept. In reality the villain is not complex nor original, and the entire film is a waste of time. There's nothing admirable about a film that was made for almost zero money and is super lazy on top of that while being mass marketed as an innovation. To truly innovate you need memorable characters, or at least a memorable villain or otherworldly force of nature. The only thing this film will be remembered for is its complicit eagerness to be completed and the corporate greed of the studio that distributed this garbage movie.