Review: Unfriended franchise
Jun. 21st, 2025 02:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452Unfriended is among what is referred to as the "screenlife" found footage genre that has become known in recent years, where most if not the entire film is made up of people talking on webcam from their computers or phones. Horror and thrillers utilize this the best, and the Unfriended franchise is of the former category.
UNFRIENDED
The premise follows a group of friends on a Skype call one night when a mysterious user ends up in their group chat, the account is revealed to be that of Laura, their friend who committed suicide a year ago. Strange and horrific series of events start happening as "Laura" is taunting them, making them reveal their deepest, darkest secrets, and how each of them are getting picked off one by one through seemingly self inflicted incidents, though they appear to be mysteriously compelled by an outside force.
This friend group is revealed to not be so nice after all, that they've all done terrible things, to others and to each other behind their backs, and even had a hand in Laura's public humiliation causing her to commit suicide. I've seen various comments about how the movie doesn't make us care about any of them because of how unsympathetic they are, but I feel like that's the point. In the end the person who got the last laugh was Laura, or "Laura" depending on how you view the ending of whether she is a vengeful spirit getting her revenge on those who wronged her or an entity pretending to be such. I personally prefer the former since feeling betrayed by your friends who you believed you could trust is a horrible feeling, so her spirit would want them to feel the same as she had, including killing themselves. And especially with Laura saving Blaire for last, the former best friend who was actually responsible for not only filming but also uploading the embarrassing video that led to Laura's constant harassment and eventual suicide, was icing on the karmic cake. In the end, it wasn't about making these characters sympathetic but just outing how horrible and two-faced they were, Blaire especially since she never owned up to what she did and clearly didn't have any remorse, not even when watching her so-called friend group being attacked before her eyes.
This was an entertaining movie, it was the first time I'd seen this kind of filming format done in such a way and, while some of the effects can be considered cheesy and low budget (ex: the glitchy video feeds), it somehow works for a movie like this.
Interestingly, this film was initially called "Cybernatural" before they changed it. While not untrue with that title, I do think "Unfriended" is better for the overall concept of these people just not being good friends with one another, and it's not just Laura getting back at them from beyong the grave but also them turning on one another.
UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB
This is a stand-alone sequel that isn't tied to the first film. The only similarities is the screenlife format.
When a guy, Matias, finds an abandoned laptop in a shop, he takes it and uses it for his planned "game night" with his friends, however after searching around on the laptop he comes across some disturbing material from the owner, including videos, pictures, and other things linked to torture of innocent women, which soon is realized to be material from the dark web. Matias then gets mysteriously contacted by the owner of the laptop, demanding it back, or else. Which sets off a chain of events of his friends getting picked off one by one by members of this dark web ring he accidentally stumbled into.
Unlike the first movie, this doesn't have any supernatural elements to it and instead focuses on the concept of unknowingly getting in contact with those involved with the dark web through a mysterious laptop. The only unrealistic parts are the glitching and quick screen manipulation, but otherwise this movie is a bit more grounded in reality, particularly with how there are a lot of real life criminal and disturbing activities going on within that part of the Internet. I think that is why this film is more unnerving than the previous, because these kinds of things are real, and are actually happening. Perhaps not to such a dramatic extent as the movie demonstrates, but there have been plenty of accounts and investigations involving underground online groups and cults that actually are connected to these kinds of activities. So the probability of accidentally stumbling onto something you shouldn't have, whether an unknown laptop or a mysterious link sent to you, makes it more terrifying.
Obviously, Matias taking and using a laptop that wasn't his was a boneheaded move, but he doesn't deserve what happens to him or his friends since they did nothing wrong. Then again, the point isn't about about who is more or less "deserving". It's revealed that the laptop was a trap meant to lure any unsuspecting individual(s) so they would be targeted. It's a game, meant for entertainment for these individuals of this dark web group (known as "The Circle", filled with members known as "Charons"). No matter what, the fates of these unsuspecting innocent people are decided by this group.
Interestingly, there were three alternate endings filmed aside from the main one. The first features Matias being buried alive and slowly suffocating to death. The second one features Matias learns that his girlfriend, Amaya, has been kidnapped and the group are betting on whether he kills himself from his grief. The third and final alternate ending is where Matias and Amaya are captured by Charons and the online group are determining their fates, ultimately deciding that Matias proved himself from attempting to blackmail and extort a fellow Charon earlier and so they allow both of them to live.
While Matias being buried alive was the most disturbing of the alternate endings, I personally liked the third ending best. Yes, it's considered the "happier" ending of them all, but it's also rather ambiguous of what happens afterwards. Matias is still being framed for the kidnapping and torture of the girl, Erica, found in one of the videos, and both he and Amaya have now seen the faces of the Charons who attacked them. This leaves a lot to speculate of what happens next, and it could even be something along the lines of a "fate worse than death" sort of ending for them. They're alive, but now at the mercy of the Charons, many of who are actually active members of society with well-respecting jobs, one a supposed police officer, making it impossible for them to go to anyone for help not knowing who was secretly involved. It would make for a good proper sequel to this movie, to see the outcome of what happened to Matias, if he threatened to remain silent and forced to join and participate in their dark web activities as an exchange for his and Amaya's freedom. It's sad that it wasn't the main ending, since the actual ending was rather lackluster, to be honest, with him just being ran over by a truck which didn't have the same emotional gut-punch as the alternate endings did.
In short, I really enjoyed this movie a whole lot. Between the two, both were entertaining for different reasons and served their purpose for the concepts they were going for, although I will have to say that Unfriended: Dark Web did have more substance with its darker and more unsettling premise, especially with the alternate endings.
I don't know if there are plans of continuing with the Unfriended franchise or just remain a duology, but I have to say both movies were quite good for what they were. If it were to continue on, I would prefer it to be anthology-based. It would be on brand, since both these were stand-alone movies anyway, though perhaps it could be an expanded universe similar to that of V/H/S where the movies are in the same world just not connected to one another.
UNFRIENDED
The premise follows a group of friends on a Skype call one night when a mysterious user ends up in their group chat, the account is revealed to be that of Laura, their friend who committed suicide a year ago. Strange and horrific series of events start happening as "Laura" is taunting them, making them reveal their deepest, darkest secrets, and how each of them are getting picked off one by one through seemingly self inflicted incidents, though they appear to be mysteriously compelled by an outside force.
This friend group is revealed to not be so nice after all, that they've all done terrible things, to others and to each other behind their backs, and even had a hand in Laura's public humiliation causing her to commit suicide. I've seen various comments about how the movie doesn't make us care about any of them because of how unsympathetic they are, but I feel like that's the point. In the end the person who got the last laugh was Laura, or "Laura" depending on how you view the ending of whether she is a vengeful spirit getting her revenge on those who wronged her or an entity pretending to be such. I personally prefer the former since feeling betrayed by your friends who you believed you could trust is a horrible feeling, so her spirit would want them to feel the same as she had, including killing themselves. And especially with Laura saving Blaire for last, the former best friend who was actually responsible for not only filming but also uploading the embarrassing video that led to Laura's constant harassment and eventual suicide, was icing on the karmic cake. In the end, it wasn't about making these characters sympathetic but just outing how horrible and two-faced they were, Blaire especially since she never owned up to what she did and clearly didn't have any remorse, not even when watching her so-called friend group being attacked before her eyes.
This was an entertaining movie, it was the first time I'd seen this kind of filming format done in such a way and, while some of the effects can be considered cheesy and low budget (ex: the glitchy video feeds), it somehow works for a movie like this.
Interestingly, this film was initially called "Cybernatural" before they changed it. While not untrue with that title, I do think "Unfriended" is better for the overall concept of these people just not being good friends with one another, and it's not just Laura getting back at them from beyong the grave but also them turning on one another.
UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB
This is a stand-alone sequel that isn't tied to the first film. The only similarities is the screenlife format.
When a guy, Matias, finds an abandoned laptop in a shop, he takes it and uses it for his planned "game night" with his friends, however after searching around on the laptop he comes across some disturbing material from the owner, including videos, pictures, and other things linked to torture of innocent women, which soon is realized to be material from the dark web. Matias then gets mysteriously contacted by the owner of the laptop, demanding it back, or else. Which sets off a chain of events of his friends getting picked off one by one by members of this dark web ring he accidentally stumbled into.
Unlike the first movie, this doesn't have any supernatural elements to it and instead focuses on the concept of unknowingly getting in contact with those involved with the dark web through a mysterious laptop. The only unrealistic parts are the glitching and quick screen manipulation, but otherwise this movie is a bit more grounded in reality, particularly with how there are a lot of real life criminal and disturbing activities going on within that part of the Internet. I think that is why this film is more unnerving than the previous, because these kinds of things are real, and are actually happening. Perhaps not to such a dramatic extent as the movie demonstrates, but there have been plenty of accounts and investigations involving underground online groups and cults that actually are connected to these kinds of activities. So the probability of accidentally stumbling onto something you shouldn't have, whether an unknown laptop or a mysterious link sent to you, makes it more terrifying.
Obviously, Matias taking and using a laptop that wasn't his was a boneheaded move, but he doesn't deserve what happens to him or his friends since they did nothing wrong. Then again, the point isn't about about who is more or less "deserving". It's revealed that the laptop was a trap meant to lure any unsuspecting individual(s) so they would be targeted. It's a game, meant for entertainment for these individuals of this dark web group (known as "The Circle", filled with members known as "Charons"). No matter what, the fates of these unsuspecting innocent people are decided by this group.
Interestingly, there were three alternate endings filmed aside from the main one. The first features Matias being buried alive and slowly suffocating to death. The second one features Matias learns that his girlfriend, Amaya, has been kidnapped and the group are betting on whether he kills himself from his grief. The third and final alternate ending is where Matias and Amaya are captured by Charons and the online group are determining their fates, ultimately deciding that Matias proved himself from attempting to blackmail and extort a fellow Charon earlier and so they allow both of them to live.
While Matias being buried alive was the most disturbing of the alternate endings, I personally liked the third ending best. Yes, it's considered the "happier" ending of them all, but it's also rather ambiguous of what happens afterwards. Matias is still being framed for the kidnapping and torture of the girl, Erica, found in one of the videos, and both he and Amaya have now seen the faces of the Charons who attacked them. This leaves a lot to speculate of what happens next, and it could even be something along the lines of a "fate worse than death" sort of ending for them. They're alive, but now at the mercy of the Charons, many of who are actually active members of society with well-respecting jobs, one a supposed police officer, making it impossible for them to go to anyone for help not knowing who was secretly involved. It would make for a good proper sequel to this movie, to see the outcome of what happened to Matias, if he threatened to remain silent and forced to join and participate in their dark web activities as an exchange for his and Amaya's freedom. It's sad that it wasn't the main ending, since the actual ending was rather lackluster, to be honest, with him just being ran over by a truck which didn't have the same emotional gut-punch as the alternate endings did.
In short, I really enjoyed this movie a whole lot. Between the two, both were entertaining for different reasons and served their purpose for the concepts they were going for, although I will have to say that Unfriended: Dark Web did have more substance with its darker and more unsettling premise, especially with the alternate endings.
I don't know if there are plans of continuing with the Unfriended franchise or just remain a duology, but I have to say both movies were quite good for what they were. If it were to continue on, I would prefer it to be anthology-based. It would be on brand, since both these were stand-alone movies anyway, though perhaps it could be an expanded universe similar to that of V/H/S where the movies are in the same world just not connected to one another.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-21 04:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, sounds like it. I've never seen it, but it seems to be about how horrible people can be online (and perhaps offline), rather than a story about complexity and redemption. Maybe people also don't like the negative portrayal of online socialization?
(The latter of which I can kind of understand, as someone who - obviously - socializes online. But that also means that I have seen how it can get very dark. I had a friend who was bullied out of an RPG to the point where she needed therapy. And these were all adults in their thirties-fifties. One of them had kids. People really forget that there are human beings on the other side of the screen, I think. Obviously a different issue, I'm just saying, yes, online friendships are great etc. etc. but there can be pretty bad people, too.)
no subject
Date: 2025-06-22 07:31 am (UTC)Maybe, though I've seen criticisms of horror movies where the victims who end up getting killed aren't often portrayed in a positive or sympathetic light for the audience to care what happens to them which can become repetitive and boring, and in a way I can agree with this sentiment to an extent. However, it's the tone and context of the story that matters. In the first Unfriended movie it's about exposing the insincerity and hypocrisy of the friend group. So yeah, we're meant to not like these people.
I had a friend who was bullied out of an RPG to the point where she needed therapy. And these were all adults in their thirties-fifties
That's horrible. :(
Sadly, this is quite common in online spaces, and I think we mostly think this occurs only among younger people, but it happens with all age groups. Online bullying can take such dark turns, oftentimes going just beyond sending messages but also continually stalking and harassing someone, getting their followers to go after them, even going so far as doxxing them or their families. It's disturbing, especially knowing that a lot of times this is done by grown adults who should know better.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-22 03:52 pm (UTC)Ohh, a completely different school of criticism. Whoops. Yeah, I've actually seen the same thing, not even just of horror but of drama in general.
My thing is too, bad things can and do still happen to shitty people, yet there seems to be this idea that they aren't supposed to.
It's disturbing, especially knowing that a lot of times this is done by grown adults who should know better.
It really is. I think a lot of people just get in over their heads and don't even see what's happening for what it is.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-22 12:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-23 03:16 pm (UTC)