A lonely teen takes the challenge of an online horror game, where she receives some unwelcome advice.
Interesting movie, which I don't class as a horror ... except for one chilling moment that truly captures the essence of the genre. The shape of the story is a coming of age in a sort of group therapy, where the person fesses up to a problem shared by the others, and gets to exchange war stories and listen to advice. And the problem? The death wish.
The opening scene is unusual, with an extended address to desktop-camera. Similar to the recent Intervention, but the performance here is much better, and so the director can take liberties with convention. In general, the direction and editing are experimental, sometimes naive, but the only real failure is in the jerky hand-held scene at the New Year's event.
The chilling moment is a great example, where the lighting is just a friggin' bedside lamp, the sound comes from a hissy microphone, and the camera is static - but the combination works just right, as the unexplained noise sets us on edge for a simple but creepy reveal. Even in that simplicity the performance is good, and also in a dance routine and an indignant tarot card reading.
So what's it all about? I don't think the movie makes a particular case, but it does point out plenty of evidence. The loneliness that an online existence hardly dispels, the desolation of American capitalism with its box stores and overriding traffic, the firepower casually lying about, the personal developmental problems that are never properly treated. What it doesn't do is point to a single cause, or transfer causation to a figure or symbol of horror. Yet, in the end, it does what a serious work of art ought to: show a way out of the trouble. So life online ain't so bad after all. As for the girl's mentor - a kindred soul, but a mysterious choice of character - maybe that mix of weird compassion suits a situation where the problem is next to nothing but its consequences are everything.
The music is curious, nothing outstanding.
Overall: interesting oddity, but not quite a horror.
Interesting movie, which I don't class as a horror ... except for one chilling moment that truly captures the essence of the genre. The shape of the story is a coming of age in a sort of group therapy, where the person fesses up to a problem shared by the others, and gets to exchange war stories and listen to advice. And the problem? The death wish.
The opening scene is unusual, with an extended address to desktop-camera. Similar to the recent Intervention, but the performance here is much better, and so the director can take liberties with convention. In general, the direction and editing are experimental, sometimes naive, but the only real failure is in the jerky hand-held scene at the New Year's event.
The chilling moment is a great example, where the lighting is just a friggin' bedside lamp, the sound comes from a hissy microphone, and the camera is static - but the combination works just right, as the unexplained noise sets us on edge for a simple but creepy reveal. Even in that simplicity the performance is good, and also in a dance routine and an indignant tarot card reading.
So what's it all about? I don't think the movie makes a particular case, but it does point out plenty of evidence. The loneliness that an online existence hardly dispels, the desolation of American capitalism with its box stores and overriding traffic, the firepower casually lying about, the personal developmental problems that are never properly treated. What it doesn't do is point to a single cause, or transfer causation to a figure or symbol of horror. Yet, in the end, it does what a serious work of art ought to: show a way out of the trouble. So life online ain't so bad after all. As for the girl's mentor - a kindred soul, but a mysterious choice of character - maybe that mix of weird compassion suits a situation where the problem is next to nothing but its consequences are everything.
The music is curious, nothing outstanding.
Overall: interesting oddity, but not quite a horror.