‘Unfriended’ is a cyber-scream
Social media reaches even beyond the grave
May the cyberforce not be with you.
Social media and digital dallying take a creepy supernatural turn in Unfriended, which introduces a new, actively paranormal entity akin to the Blair Witch. Actually, given that she has no physical form, just keystrokes, she bears more resemblance to an otherworldly Internet troll.
This malevolent force insidiously haunts six teens through the laptop screen of one character. She’s seeking revenge from beyond the grave for a humiliating video that went viral and pushed her to commit suicide.
The deceased demon is the digital alter ego of Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman), who brings to mind Twin Peaks’ mysterious Laura Palmer. In that seminal ’90s TV series, the question was who killed her. Here, Laura clearly took her own life, but who drove her to do it is up for debate. How much blame does a clique of cyberbullies share? The film doesn’t exactly answer that, focusing more on dramatic tension and grisly forms of revenge.
Unfriended’s vindictive tech apparition navigates through Facebook chat, Spotify and Google, as well as a website that warns “Do not answer messages from the dead.”
Director Levan Gabriadze takes the played-out found-footage genre of the Paranormal Ac
tivity movies and gives it a fresh spin. Each character is visible through the laptop screen of popular and upbeat Blaire (Shelley Hennig) as they video-chat.
The film opens with Blaire communicating with her boyfriend, Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm). Their sexy repartee is interrupted by the friendly intrusion of four pals, and they prattle on about silly teen topics. Then, out of nowhere, an additional caller joins the conversation, with no identifying photo, just a generic icon. The mysterious newcomer is revealed as Laura Barns, who has been dead for a year. Is the group being pranked? Has someone hacked the Facebook account?
Blaire’s increasingly frenzied browsing and flurry of anxious messages amplifies the suspense. When she bangs out a message, then hesitates and edits her jumbled thoughts, the audience gets a sense of her emotions. The teens’ initial skepticism gives way to trepidation, then abject terror. Along the way, they turn on each other as ghostly Laura manipulates them into revealing secrets, lies and personal betrayals.
Since the audience is familiar with the technology’s format and constraints, there is some sense of identification with the characters. Or at least with their keystrokes. Their activity on social networks is mundane and recognizable, similar to what most of us do daily.
Blowing this small-screen cyberhorror tale out to the big screen makes for fresh and fearsome fun.