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Monday, April 20, 2015
Scene
The Associated Press
The horror movie “Unfriended,” which revolves around social media and secrets, has a unique format, as it takes viewers through Skype chats and Facebook posts. The suspenseful film was released in theaters Friday.
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Michelle Moreno Columnist
With social media changing the way people communicate with each other, it’s no surprise it was the major influence behind the movie “Unfriended.” The plot of “Unfriended” revolves around Laura Barns, played by Heather Sossaman, a high school girl who commits suicide in her school’s courtyard after seeing a humiliating YouTube video of herself passed out drunk. The movie continues with Blaire Lily, played by Shelley Hennig, and her friends as they video chat a year after Laura’s death. They stumble upon an unknown participant in their group chat who they soon discover is using Laura’s old account. The suspense escalates while the unknown user threatens to kill the characters off one by one unless they admit to their own dark secrets. The format “Unfriended” follows is interesting because it uses a style
unlike other horror movies. Instead of showing the actors in person, the whole movie takes place in the realm of Skype and other social media platforms such as Facebook. This gives the audience a sense of reality and paranoia and pulls them in. The lack of real interaction among the friends as they are slowly taken down demonstrates an eerie psychological effect. The movie also explores the issues of cyberbullying and true bonds of friendship as each friend is forced to reveal horrible secrets they had been keeping from one another. “Unfriended” is filled with twists to keep the audience on their feet about who and what the true cause of Laura’s death was. The format and pace of the movie can seem a little off-putting for some, but it leaves the audience with the message to think before they post something online that could emotionally harm others. Overall, “Unfriended” lacks the jump scares commonly found in horror movies while still containing gore, and the pace of the movie makes it a suspenseful experience. It’s a good movie, but definitely not what most would expect.