Unfriended (2015) – Review

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Review: I never thought about and accept Unfriended as one deadly fun horror movie before I finally watch it myself. The premise sounds ridiculous in the beginning: a ghost is threatening a bunch of social media generation teenagers for retribution with subtext to cyber-bullying. The way it presents the idea is far more ridiculous: a whole screen of MacBook with multiple tabs with a Skype window as the highlight.

15 minutes going into the plot, Unfriended suddenly makes all senses. At the same time, it comes with more proofs certifying itself as a clever horror movie that finds a way to cyber era.

The social media presence isn’t just some gimmick; it’s a device to keep the plot progressing. Through the MacBook screen, which is Blaire’s (Shelley Hennig), we learn that a high school student, Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman), committed suicide after an embarrassing video went viral. From the same screen, we learn that it’s the anniversary night of Laura’s suicide; and at the same time, Blaire and her “small gang” plan to do video-conference.

Unfriended feels so close to our daily basis, especially in terms of social media utilization. Well, it might feel closer to people from first world, though, but basically, it’s similar. Those teenagers talk and chat in a way that we also use daily. Even their online habit, reflected in Blaire’s, is somehow ours as well: switching quick from Skype window to iMessage for a more personal chat; opening various tabs on Google Chrome; utilizing Facebook chat, Google search, YouTube and all.

Things get more absurd, silly, and interesting at the same thing when a stranger suddenly mingles to the group chat, threatening those guys to unravel something from the past which might have relation with Laura Barns’ suicide. This is where things turn into a joyride – the terror begins in an updated version of mockumentary through Blaire’s screen only.

It might look like a horror with moral value, but that’s not the fun. When you suddenly realize that you’ve been in the middle of the movie without realizing it’s in the middle, and you want more of every lunacy that Unfriended tries to convey. Most importantly, it’s something you think you might have seen before but, in fact, you just watch it and it wants you to get more.

Unfriended (2015)

Horror, Mystery, Thriller Directed by: Levan Gabriadze Written by: Nelson Greaves Starred by: Shelley Hennig, Heather Sossaman, Courtney Halverson, Moses Storm, Renee OlsteadWill Peltz Runtime: 83 mins Rated R

IMDb

7 responses to “Unfriended (2015) – Review”

  1. Wendell Avatar
    Wendell

    This one doesn’t quite work for me. I think the concept is brilliant. The execution of it is clunky. The first two acts just plod along in such a boring fashion I couldn’t get into it. Watching our protagonist point, click, and type is tiresome, not tense.

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      You know Wendell, I’m easily impressed and as result it all works for me. It’s not that tense, indeed, but it felt very personal for me. And the nature of Asian horror that makes possible of everything is one key that get me easily grasp this.

  2. Tri Fajar Avatar
    Tri Fajar

    Film ini cocok banget ama aku yg suka film horror mockumenter karena keterbatasan ruang gerak yg bikin ngerinya makin terasa. Momen paling keren saat dua orang disuruh memilih siapa dulu yg menunjukkan kertas ke layar. Walaupun terasa konyol, tapi benar2 bikin penasaran dan saat tulisan dibuka. Boom.

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      Cocok sekali kalau ditonton pas lagi ada waktu luang di rumah. Soalnya feel so close sekali dengan kehidupan sehari-hari. O ya adegan itu wtf sekali, siapa yg mau disalahin coba? Anjay emang ehe

  3. KukuhGiaji Avatar
    KukuhGiaji

    i feel you. Bahkan gua sempet bener-bener males nntn udah karena jajaran pemainnya gak terkenal ditambah sinopsis film yang bikin mengkerutkan dahi makin males banget buat nntn tapi karena udah gak ada lagi yang bsa di tonton akhirnya malah nonton dan nagih.

    Bisa mainin struktur tiga babak yang oke banget untuk film horor kelas B macam gini

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      Third actnya agak rushing sih sebenarnya. Tapi emang film ini kerasa dekat sekalii

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