You may be tempted to have a break from technology after watching the film

Film Review Unfriended

Director: Levan Gabriadze

Starring: Shelley Hennig, Renee Olstead, Moses Jacob Storm, Will Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson, Heather Sossaman

Running time: 83 minutes

Rating: 15

Release date: 24th April 

Anyone who’s ever accidentally lost half their dissertation, sent a drunken email, or paid for something multiple times online can attest to the fact that computer related nightmares are nothing new; we live in a fast paced, technological age of information in which mistakes are easier to make, harder to erase and could be viewed by millions of people at any one time.  But drunken emails are the stuff of dreams compared to the techno nightmare that is UNFRIENDED , the new teen slasher film from Russian director Levan Gabriadze

The premise is simple enough: 6 friends chat together on Skype one evening (on the one year anniversary of their friend Laura Barns’ cyber bullying related suicide, as it happens) when they realise there’s another user profile listening in on their conversation. Try as they might they can’t get rid of the profile and soon they realise that the mystery account is in Laura Barns’ name. Although the group do consider the possibility of it being a prank at first, horrific things start happening to each member of the group and each of them seem doomed to meet a grisly fate. So far, so teen slasher. So what’s different? 

Well, the entire thing is set on the main character Blaire Lily’s laptop: the camera never pans away from what’s happening on her desktop and we watch events unfold on screen onscreen. I’ll be honest: I was not hopeful when I heard about this. I thought it was gimmicky and, worse than that, that it sounded boring- like watching a friend play Xbox but never playing yourself. It is nice then that I can say I realised within the first couple of minutes that I was completely wrong: it really worked as a concept and told the story more than adequately. Though the camera never pans away from the screen (with every detail perfect, right down to the clock in the right hand corner) it never feels stationary and even feels as though there are cuts; Blaire mutes her Skype as she iMessages her boyfriend, she brings up a helpful article or two on ghost possession- we even go all the way to Nevada at one point as she enlists the help of a stranger she meets on Chat Roulette.  It was really interesting to see the way we interact now depicted on screen like this- and if you have any computer know-how at all you’ll recognise the way in which Blaire behaves on her computer as authentic (other than the somewhat irritating text speak she and her friends slip into every now and then). A person with little to no computer knowledge- my grandmother for example- might struggle and feel a bit overwhelmed by the speed of it all but this is a minor point as I’m not sure what my grandmother would be doing watching a teen slasher anyway. 

There were definitely a few moments when it lost the plot a bit- I recall one segment where every character was shrieking and sobbing and wailing from their little Skype windows that was a bit too hysterical- in both senses of the word. I also have a small problem with the idea that people are really capable of being this nasty to one another, but perhaps that’s just me being optimistic about the human race: trolling obviously exists and often does have dreadful (if not always paranormal) consequences. But overall the performances are good and involving (Shelley Hennig and Renee Olstead particularly so) and I left the screening with the strong sensation that maybe a break from technology was long overdue. 

Verdict

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Film and Theatre Journalist Follow @NessTroop Follow @filmandtvnow