Tags:
Film: Unfriended: Dark Web
Year: 2018
Director: Stephen Susco
Writer: Stephen Susco
Starring: Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel and Colin Woodell
Review:
This sequel takes what the original film does and grounds it more in reality. It also ramps up the fear as to what can really happen when you mess with the dark web and what can be found there. The synopsis for the film is a teen comes into possession of a new laptop and soon discovers that the previous owner is not only watching him, but will also do anything to get it back.
As I alluded to above, this sequel did something similar but different. The original is a group of friends who are trying to figure out who is stalking and killing them, that appears to be supernatural. This film has what happens to those who shouldn’t be on the dark web, stumble upon it and then get caught up in the horrors of what’s on there. It’s all because Matias (Colin Woodell) brings home a new computer that has someone’s information saved in it.
He unknowingly pulls all of his friends into the trouble he gets himself into when they are having game night over Skype. This group is Serena (Rebecca Rittenhouse), Nari (Betty Gabriel), Damon (Andrew Lees), DJ Lexx (Savira Windyani) and AJ (Connor Del Rio). They start off with a game of Cards Against Humanity. Matias has some trouble focusing as he is trying to work things out with his girlfriend, Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras) who is deaf. He thinks he has created an app that will help, but it isn’t what she has in mind per se. This takes quite the turn though when the true owner of the laptop wants it back. Damon helps Matias discover things on the computer he shouldn’t see.
The film does well at building tension to the point where I felt completely uncomfortable. There are some things that are revealed I don’t buy in, but the things that these hackers can do over the internet is believable. It gets extremely bleak and I ended up being a big fan of it. The ending was quite interesting and I was on board for where they took it. There is something that also happens in this film where their words are twisted and I liked it.
Something I felt stronger for this film was the acting. Woodell does really good at being a natural person who knows computers, but doesn’t know everything. Seeing the emotional rollercoaster he goes through was really good as well. Rittenhouse was gorgeous and her range was also really good as well. Gabriel was fun to see in her role. Nogueras was also cute, but doesn’t get a lot of screen time. Lees was solid as the one who knows the most about computers. Windyani was also attractive. Rio was fun as the internet conspiracy theorist. There is a nice blend of characters and I thought the rest of the cast round out the film well. I will say that, if this is supposed to be teens, I feel that all of these actors are a little old for that. This seems more like a group out of college and in their mid-20’s.
As for the effects of the film, there aren’t really a lot. The ones that were used are practical which is good. On top of that though, this is film from the perspective of a laptop so everything we see is through the webcam or what is on the screen. There is some technology that hackers use that I found to be interesting. I’m not sure if it is real or not, but I believe it. I do think this is a positive for the film.
Being that this is a found-footage film, there isn’t much in a way of a score. We get the normal sounds for applications that are being used and it works well for the film. The music that is used is played by the characters and is ambient. I do think this is a nice touch being that this adds to the realism. I’m glad they didn’t include music that shouldn’t be there to ruin what they are going for.
Now with that said, I found this film to be very entertaining, so much so that I actually enjoyed it more than the original one. I thought that this one is more based in reality and that made it scarier for me. The idea of the dark web is intriguing and terrifying at the same time. It helps make this film is interesting. I thought the editing of the film was very good and it actually had such tense feeling. It was actually one of the tense films I’ve seen this year. I thought the acting was believable and I liked the characters. There aren’t a lot in the ways of effects, but the ones used were good. I thought how this was filmed was interesting and the use of programs by hackers was good too. There’s not much in the way of score, but the ambient use of sound was good. Overall I found this to be a good film and definitely worth a viewing. It is different from the original that was based more in the supernatural, so keep that in mind.
My Rating: 8 out of 10