'Unfriended' review, the deliciously delirious gimmick horror film which may or may not have intended to be a comedy

In our tech-suave, privacy-free Internet era, to be secluded is a nearly impossible task. So commencements should be made to those, like the filmmakers behind the new horror film Unfriended, who try to aim to the heart of fear—the unknown—in our digital-friendly society. Director Leo Gabriadze, who makes a feature squarely from a computer screen’s perspective, is clear in his method, but does he succeed? That’s where things get muddled.

On April 12, 2014, the first anniversary of high schooler Laura Barns’ (Heather Sossaman) public suicide, a group of friends and fellow students (Shelley Hennig, Jimmy Bowers, Will Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, Renee Olstead, Courtney Halverson) Skype each other late into the night only to find something odd. In their chat comes an unknown, unseen user, who remains in their conversation even as they restart and restart their screens. Stating she’s the presence of Barns in the Skype message box, Facebook and other social forums, she begins a deadly turn of events, where bad blood — both psychical and social — is spread throughout their evening.

It’s never especially clear what kind of film Gabriadze has in mind here. On face value, Unfriended seems like your average low-budget Jason Blum horror production. There’s a clear gimmick, executed as well as it could in the time allotted, and a group of primarily unknowns at the center who ramp up the tension. It never relents from its planned execution, and surprisingly the concept at hand never feels overly contrived or hard to swallow. They stick to their guns, and thankfully find believable and sometimes clever ways to keep the gang on their computers.

But as Unfriended proceeds along and it elevates the stakes, the horror film goes into full-on dark comedy territory. It becomes quite amusing, but it’s not clever if this was what the filmmakers intended. We laugh at the characters’ misery and distress, and relish in their dark situations, but Gabriadze keeps a straight face throughout. There’s never a wink or nod to the audience to tell them if your laughing is in good fun or to their chagrin, and this makes the horror film’s execution all the more puzzling.

Whether the gaffs come intentionally or not, this premise is riffled with dark comedy potential, which Unfriended ultimately lives up to. Add in a dependable cast, with Wysocki and Henning as the standouts, and you get a gleefully twisted adventure which knows when to get in and when to get out in due fashion. You’re never bored, but this is often because you’re —once again —bemused by figuring out whether you’re complimenting Gabriadze’s work or not.

Shot in continuous one-takes over the course of around 16 days, much in the same fashion as last year’s Locke, it’s for sure a demanding production. The cast and crew give it all they’ve got, and Henning’s performance in particular is very emotionally demanding. If only the characters and the script were given the same love and care.

Nelson Geaves’ screenplay dishes delirious outcomes, but his personalities are often quite flat. Besides Halverson and Wysocki’s characters, the main figures don’t have a lot of personality. They all are given traits that could be summed up more or less in a sentence, and mostly come across as human buckets of bloods to be splattered at the right moment. Though these figures are typical in mainstream horror films like Unfriended these days. And yet, each actor gives their own charisma and grace to their character, and makes them feel palpable and relatable, even when their dialogue often does not.

Unfriended isn’t wholeheartedly original. Joe Swanberg’s segment in the first V/H/S accomplished the same feat, if in a shorter amount of time, while Paranormal Activity 4 tried the same concept, if rather unsuccessfully. It may not even be a good movie, depending on what really was the point here. The anti-bullying message is clear, to be sure, but whether the cheekiness is at all of our expense or just ours is never really answered. Ultimately, this is a dial-up call left waiting, but that’s not to say you should hang up on Unfriended either.

For a different perspective, check out Liam's review.