Unfriended

The plot of Unfriended (available on HBO Go) is easy to grasp, but this film is unconventional to say the least. It takes place entirely on a teenage girl’s computer screen.

In this modern update of a time-tested formula, a girl spends an evening home alone, chatting with her friends on social media. A stranger joins their chat session, taunting them as tension builds. Who is this sinister stalker who won’t go away. He/she is a stranger who thinks they were involved in a cyberbullying incident -- but were they? Once the teens discover that the stranger cannot be "unfriended," it’s not long before hysterical, shrieking mayhem ensues.

For those who like messages in their movies, this one’s simple: if your children or grandchildren are online and unsupervised, they aren't safe, even in a quiet, guard-gated community like mine. 

Unfriended is unique in that literally everything is depicted through the lens of Skype, Facebook, Twitter and a dizzying array of other computer applications. The only view we have of the characters is through split-screen shots of young people staring at their webcams. There is spoken dialogue, but we’re also required to read the contents of web pages, text boxes and search engines.

At first I thought this was merely an opening gimmick. But to my surprise, it went on for the entire film. The fact that a film producer saw commercial potential here says a lot about how social media has infiltrated young peoples' lives.

Teenagers will like Unfriended for its cheap thrills, youthful characters and contemporary twist. Parents and grandparents will find themselves on familiar ground, because this film has its roots in the teen horror/slasher film tradition which began way back in the 1980s, with films like Halloween, Friday the 13^th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Ah, memories. A sequel, Unfriended 2, is planned.