Movie Review

“Unfriended”

Name : Hafizhotunnisa Nur Hasanah

Unfriended is a 2015 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by Levan
Gabriadze, written by Nelson Greaves, executive produced by Jason Blum, co-produced by
Adam Sidman, and produced by Greaves and Timur Bekmambetov. The film is shot as a
computer screen film. The film stars Shelley Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Renee Olstead, Will
Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, and Courtney Halverson as high school students in a Skype conversation
that is haunted by a student, played by Heather Sossaman, who was bullied and committed
suicide.

The film premiered at the Fantasia Festival on July 20, 2014, and at SXSW on March 13, 2015.
It received a theatrical release on April 17, 2015. The film, which is told almost entirely through
a screencast of a high school student's MacBook screen, stars Shelley Hennig as one of several
friends who find themselves terrorized online by an anonymous person. The film received
positive reviews from critics and was a massive box office success, grossing $64 million against
a $1 million budget.

A stand-alone sequel, Unfriended: Dark Web, premiered at SXSW on March 9, 2018, and was
theatrically released in the United States on July 20, 2018.

Gabriadze was attracted to the project (then titled Offline) as it focused on the theme of bullying.
He noted that the nature of bullying had changed since he was in school, as the Internet allowed
for bullies to continue their actions even after school hours.

Production was 16 days total, including six 12-hour days of principal photography, three days of
pick-ups and then a few more reshoots.] When filming began, it mostly consisted of long takes
around ten minutes in length. Shelley Hennig, who portrayed Blair, found that this proved
difficult for the energy and motivation needed from her and the other actors. At her request, at
least one full, 80-minute-long take was filmed, with each actor in separate rooms with separate
computers. The film's ending was captured during one of these feature-length takes.

The film's title changed during shooting (and would also change prior to its theatrical release), as
the film's crew felt that the title of Offline was "too general and not obvious" and that the then
title of Cybernatural was "more to the point of what it is". For wide release, the film was re-titled
Unfriended.

A deleted scene featured Jess being pulled away, presumably Laura's spirit. Laura then proceeds
to physically abuse Jess by the clicks of a cursor all within Jess's Facebook profile. The scene
ends when Laura takes a saw and chops one of Jess's hands off. The scene was later scrapped as
it "didn't fit with the horror theme".
High school student Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman) commits suicide after an anonymous user
uploads a video of her passing out and defecating at an unsupervised party, and the video goes
viral. One year later, her former childhood best friend Blaire Lily (Shelley Hennig) is chatting
with her boyfriend Mitch Roussel (Moses Jacob Storm) on Skype, during which they agree to
lose their virginities to each other on prom night. Soon after, they are joined by their friends and
classmates Jess Felton (Renee Olstead), Ken Smith (Jacob Wysocki), and Adam Sewell (Will
Peltz), and an unknown user known as "billie227".

The gang tries various ways to get rid of the intruder but are unsuccessful each time. Blaire looks
up the account and realizes that it belonged to Laura Barns, revealing "billie227" as Laura. The
gang suspects that a classmate named Val Rommel (Courtney Halverson) is pranking them. After
they invite Val to their chat, Jess' Facebook page is updated with racy photos of Val at a party.
Jess denies uploading the photos and deletes them from her account, but the pictures reappear on
Adam's account. Val calls 911 to report that she is being harassed, then abruptly leaves the chat.
They each receive a link of an Instagram post showing a photo of Val and Laura's messages from
before Laura's death, with Val telling Laura to kill herself, this causes her Facebook friends to
turn against her. Val is suddenly brought back into the chat, sitting still next to a bottle of bleach
before collapsing. From the police presence on the audio link, they deduce that Val died from a
presumed suicide. Ken uses a program to remove "billie227" from the chat, and Adam attempts
to call the police. However, the 911 operator on the other end turns out to be the intruder and re-
enters the chat, revealing a camera view which appears to come from the other side of Ken's
room. He approaches the camera source, but his Skype is disconnected and reconnects showing
him having a nervous breakdown, putting his hand inside an active blender before stabbing his
neck with the blades
"billie227" forces the remaining four friends to play a game of Never Have I Ever, stating that
the loser will die. They are forced to reveal hurtful secrets which reveal their backstabbing
against each other: Jess spread a rumor that Blaire had anorexia; Mitch cheated on Blaire with
Laura; Blaire stole and crashed a car that belonged to Jess' mother; Mitch reported Adam to the
police for selling marijuana (for which Adam was nearly disowned); and Adam offered to trade
Jess' life for his own. An argument ensues between Adam and Mitch. Adam finally loses his
temper and uses the game to force Blaire to reveal that she is no longer a virgin, having slept
with him twice behind Mitch's back. "billie227" then uploads a video to YouTube which proves
the claim. Mitch retaliates by forcing Adam to admit that he forced a classmate named Ashley
Dane to abort a pregnancy incurred by a date rape he committed using roofies at a party. Blaire
and Adam then receive messages sent to their printers which they refuse to show to Mitch and
Jess. Mitch threatens to leave if Blaire does not show the note and "billie227" warns that Mitch
will die if he signs off. In a moment of panic, Blaire shows her paper which states: "If you reveal
this note, Adam will die." This causes Adam to shoot himself, revealing he had the same note
except it was for Blaire.
"billie227" then says that the game is still on and asks whether anyone has defaced Laura Barns'
grave. When Blaire convinces Jess not to continue playing, "billie227" cuts the lights in Jess's
house and disconnects her video feed. Blaire looks for help on Chatroulette and has a stranger
send police to Jess' house. Soon after, Jess' Skype reconnects showing her with an activated
curling iron forced down her throat, killing her.
“billie227” suddenly cuts the lights in Blaire’s and Mitch’s houses, then messages Blaire and
Mitch, wanting them to confess who uploaded the video. Blaire considers denying involvement
but eventually tells her that Mitch was the one who posted it. Mitch grabs a knife and stabs
himself in the eye. “billie227” thanks Blaire, but then says she wants her to do one last thing for
her and begins counting down again. Blaire attempts to remind Laura about friendship, but Laura
then uploads an extended version of her video which reveals Blaire was the one who recorded it.
Blaire’s Facebook friends then turn against her for good, leaving angry and disgusted messages.
Laura says what Blaire has done will live online forever and wishes she could forgive her, before
signing off Skype. Blaire’s bedroom door creaks open and a pair of hands slam her laptop shut.
Laura’s spirit violently lunges at Blaire as the screen cuts to black implying that Blaire has been
killed by Laura but the cause of her death was unknown.
 Movie Review

Title : Unfriended

Directors : Leo Gabriadze

Producers : Timur Bekmambetov, Nelson Greaves

Record : 2014

Length : 83 minutes

Release date : July 20, 2014

Cast : Shelley Hennig as Blaire Lily

Moses Jacob Storm as Mitch Roussel

Renee Olstead as Jess Felton

Will Peltz as Adam Sewell

Jacob Wysocki as Ken Smith

Courtney Halverson as Val Rommel

Heather Sossaman as Laura Barns / "billie227"

Mickey River as Dank Jimmy

Cal Barnes as Rando Pauls

Matthew Bohrer as Matt

Christa Hartsock as Chatroulette Girl

Konstantin Khabensky as Police officer (uncredited)

Rate : 5.5 / 10