Synopsis: Casey is a video blogger who posts the "World's Fair" challenge, which has been an ongoing online trend that leads posters to change who they are, become psychotic, or something within the myriad of "changing." One night, JLM--a fellow World's Fair community member--sends her a message saying that she is in danger. From there, the spiral into internet insanity begins.
Review: Here's the problem... I REALLY wanted to like this movie. I wanted to give it a chance and be wowed. But that just didn't happen. The acting is quite good, provided what they were given (which isn't much, frankly). Both leads did a great job creating suspense, committing to their performances, and the mystery of the world and what is real permeates. The question of what truly is real is what garnered the most attention from me at the credits: Did everything that happened happen at face value? Did JLM develop a relationship with Casey and this is a story about the dangers of online grooming? Did any of this even happen and, instead, this is a tale of JLM's wishes to be a young woman in a medium where it is possible? Did JLM create The World's Fair? Is Casey's story, amongst others, just a CreepyPasta that JLM is writing to gain more money--which he seemingly has a lot of given his home, whether that comes from his mother (?) who we see for five seconds at one point in the film--or notoriety?
So many questions, no answers. Which would normally be fine, and the speculative material of the movie would be icing on the cake aside from the solidity of the product itself. But unfortunately, this is not the case for We're All Going to the World's Fair. There is too much that is intangible, unknown, to give more of a punch of story. The cinematography is fine, the editing okay for the most part, and the dialogue fair. My biggest qualm is that this is a drama film masqueraded as a horror film, and while this has been somewhat of a trend lately, this film is the worst offender since there is nothing in it that is remotely scary. It relies way too much on the fact that it is sometimes nighttime outside, and the one scene where I genuinely felt something was when the stuffed animal was ripped apart. It is a good character moment, because Casey is messed up enough to do it thinking it's just a game but also only seemed to connect to the stuffed animal compared to all else in the world so it would have been a stretch for a normal her to do this. JLM mentions her going to in-patient treatment after so perhaps this was also just face value.
I don't feel robbed, I'm just disappointed in what could have been a much scarier or much more approachable film. Again, the speculative nature of the ending and the prompt itself, along with the main stars' acting, are the highlights of the work, but there is nothing that makes this movie worth the price. Not for everyone, and this proverb is certain truly: never again will I be viewing the World's Fair.
Review: Here's the problem... I REALLY wanted to like this movie. I wanted to give it a chance and be wowed. But that just didn't happen. The acting is quite good, provided what they were given (which isn't much, frankly). Both leads did a great job creating suspense, committing to their performances, and the mystery of the world and what is real permeates. The question of what truly is real is what garnered the most attention from me at the credits: Did everything that happened happen at face value? Did JLM develop a relationship with Casey and this is a story about the dangers of online grooming? Did any of this even happen and, instead, this is a tale of JLM's wishes to be a young woman in a medium where it is possible? Did JLM create The World's Fair? Is Casey's story, amongst others, just a CreepyPasta that JLM is writing to gain more money--which he seemingly has a lot of given his home, whether that comes from his mother (?) who we see for five seconds at one point in the film--or notoriety?
So many questions, no answers. Which would normally be fine, and the speculative material of the movie would be icing on the cake aside from the solidity of the product itself. But unfortunately, this is not the case for We're All Going to the World's Fair. There is too much that is intangible, unknown, to give more of a punch of story. The cinematography is fine, the editing okay for the most part, and the dialogue fair. My biggest qualm is that this is a drama film masqueraded as a horror film, and while this has been somewhat of a trend lately, this film is the worst offender since there is nothing in it that is remotely scary. It relies way too much on the fact that it is sometimes nighttime outside, and the one scene where I genuinely felt something was when the stuffed animal was ripped apart. It is a good character moment, because Casey is messed up enough to do it thinking it's just a game but also only seemed to connect to the stuffed animal compared to all else in the world so it would have been a stretch for a normal her to do this. JLM mentions her going to in-patient treatment after so perhaps this was also just face value.
I don't feel robbed, I'm just disappointed in what could have been a much scarier or much more approachable film. Again, the speculative nature of the ending and the prompt itself, along with the main stars' acting, are the highlights of the work, but there is nothing that makes this movie worth the price. Not for everyone, and this proverb is certain truly: never again will I be viewing the World's Fair.