*** outta *****

3 outta 5

Unfriended: Dark Web is an oddly immersive film that may not have enough content to fill out its 90 minute running time yet it has a few solid beats here and there.  This is barely a sequel as there’s no character or plots carried over from the preceding film and the only thing that is consistent from each installment is the visual of the entire movie happening from a computer screen gimmick. The original Unfriended had a supernatural hook which was a little dopey, Lookout! A haunted computer!, but this one discards that for a somewhat slightly more plausible narrative set around a dark web of killer computer hackers. The visual style is unique and, oddly, for a film that is literally entirely a screenshot from a computer, actually kind of needs to be seen on a big screen to notice all details and plot information. 

Matias (Colin Woodell) has a new laptop with high processing power so he can complete a sign language app and video chat with his deaf girlfriend, Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras).  After a spat over Facebook, he logs onto a video group chat with his friends, Nari (Betty Gabriel), Serena (Rebecca Rittenhouse), DJ Lexx (Savira Windyani), Damon (Andrew Lees) and the hyperactive A.J. (Connor Del Rio). Soon Mathias starts getting weird digital messages – it turns out that Mathias stole the laptop and now its owner has tracked him down. Matias digs into the laptop and finds hidden files of stalking, crimes and death, discovering the laptop is linked to the Dark Web where criminals sell horrible services. Now the laptop’s owner and a cavalcade of shady technologically savvy hackers are threatening everyone in the group to abide by their rules or death will come.

The visual hook is pretty interesting if extremely jumbled where there is a bunch of stuff happening at once.  Facebook message windows are just a small box in the corner of the screen so one has to pay attention.  To absorb all of the information on the screen it has to be seen on a pretty big viewing area. Frankly the movie would be kind of incomprehensible on a phone and works best in a theatre. Also the watching through a computer monitor style makes the jump scares feel very immediate.  This movie also comes with two different endings in theatres, depending on which show one sees. Unfortunately, it isn’t good enough to see twice in theatres.

Frankly the movie’s best stuff happens in the final 20 minutes or so. There is something to be said for establishing character relationships but the opening of the film is a drag.  The visual hook is interesting but until the evil hacking starts, it’s a lot of annoying millennials chit-chating.  Also there’s a ton of exposition about who the characters are which ultimately doesn’t matter. Mathias delving into the creepy laptop is pretty cool.  He runs a program called “The River” which connects to the Dark Web and it’s a nifty visual of a boat floating with graphics that look like something out of the old Doom computer game.  Oddly, when Mathias later logs back on to the River program it’s suddenly rendered in pristine high definition. Maybe the evil hackers decided to upgrade the graphical interface while he logged off?

Anyway, the movie invests a whole lot of time trying to get you to care for Mathias and his girlfriend but he really comes off as an insensitive jerk since he’d rather make a graphical sign language program instead of actually learning it. His girlfriend is cheerfully oblivious to the chaos happening online, so she spends most of the movie either disappointed with her boyfriend or smiling stupidly. The rest of the crew is pretty bland, although Del Rio as A.J. the conspiracy theorist does yell a lot which at least keeps things lively. Rittenhouse actually gets a great scene where she has to make an impossible life or death choice.

The initial discovery of the criminal materials on the laptop plays out slowly to maximize the creepiness factor. The first time Mathias witnesses an attack by a crook while he’s helpless is very unnerving and there’s hacker technology that makes them impossible to identify.  One factoid that the characters learn about a potential crime involves drilling holes into a person’s skull has a fantastic pay off in the end that is very unsettling.  The hackers seem surprisingly menacing and moments when the hackers are shown in the real world generally lead to a lot of violence. Also they use technology to manipulate people like taking A.J.’s online video blogging rants to make him seem crazy to the police.  And the last shot and final twist of the movie is really great.

Unfriended: Dark Web is the definition of a gimmick movie but the gimmick works better this time around than its precursor.  Of course, if someone would just turn off their computer and immediately run for the hills they’d be much smarter but the movie would be much shorter. Still, for while the movie lasts, it keeps things pretty engaging and only sort of unintentionally silly.