Movie Review: Unfriended: Dark Web

Unfriended: Dark Web

Director: Stephen Susco

Starring: Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel, Chelsea Alden, Colin Woodell, Andrew Lees, Stephanie Nogueras, Savira Windyani

Rating: R

Runtime: 88 Minutes

The original Unfriended, released in 2014, was a very niche horror movie where the entirety of the film is told from the screen of a MacBook computer. This is definitely a style of shooting that is not for everyone. I can admit to enjoying the first Unfriended. It was effective and all the actors did a good job performing in front of a “webcam”. This sequel, that is four years after the original, is more effective and still just as well acted. Let’s explore Unfriended: Dark Web and everything that worked and didn’t work.

The only connecting thread between the two films is the point of view that it is filmed in. We are introduced to new characters in a new situation. The one change that stood out to me fairly quickly was that the first film was based in the supernatural and Dark Web is based in reality. We are watching the computer screen of Matias, a 20-something guy who has recently come into owning a new computer. A used computer. Matias has built a program to help him sign to his deaf girlfriend, Amaya. Soon, we meet the entire Skype group that cleverly plays Cards Against Humanity over video chat without having the meet up in one person’s house. It is nice to watch someone juggle 100 open windows and tabs like some of us do on our computers. Since tech savvy Matias never erased the hard drive of the original owner, he still has access to the all the profiles and website log-ins of the previous owner. Once Matias ventures into the owner’s life and files, he discovers real-world horrors that remind us why we should be scared of who gets in our house through our modem.

Some methods of hacking and cyber-terrorism we see in this movie are possible and some are very far fetched. This disconnect could have been handled better. If the writer and director, Susco, wanted to ground this movie in reality then he should have gone all the way. Instead, we get some scenes that just can’t happen. Also, the villains in the movie are called The Circle. This just seems like such a generic “bad guys -r- us” organization. “Let’s all wear black hoodies and hide our faces”, such a new concept, am I right?

There are things that don’t work here, but the realism of the Skype group and their scenarios work so well that I would watch a whole movie where I could learn more about the characters and their lives. Watching their relationships work and not work and hearing all the banter is a great backdrop to Unfriended: Dark Web. That being said, I am recommending this film to fans of the first Unfriended movie. It gives you a new story from the same perspective (computer screen). If the creators would like to take another swing at an Unfriended movie in the future, then I will probably see that one as well. This could become a series much like Paranormal Activity, or more recently, The Purge, where an Unfriended movie means you are getting the POV of a MacBook screen and a horror tale. Only time with tell. Most series’ wear out their welcome in the horror genre. I can see a four-year gap in between films being better for audiences, but worse for the cash-grab studios.