REVIEW: Unfriended

Starring: Shelley Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Will Peltz, Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson, Heather Sossaman.

Director: Levan Gabriadze.

Released: May 1 (UK & Ireland)

AN online prank spirals out of control in Unfriended, which takes the philosophical concept of a 'ghost in the machine' to the outlandish next level.

Directed by Levan Gabriadze and written by Nelson Greaves, this sleek horror pits a group of high school students against an online predator, one year after their classmate committed suicide.

In a neat twist, the film unfolds on the laptop of one heroine.

Browser windows, video chat links and instant messengers open and close on her cluttered desktop with a click of her trackpad button, seemingly in real time.

Occasionally, director Gabriadze exploits this stylistic conceit for maximum impact, like when the heroine begins to disclose a secret about the dead girl, then deletes and repeatedly edits her response before clicking Send.

From each amendment, we piece together unsettling facts that are never spoken aloud.

By exploiting technology from a first-person perspective, Unfriended keeps us at a safe distance from the blood-curdling terror, which lessens the impact of the obligatory jolts.

And even though protagonists are supposed to be savvy teens, they evidently haven't watched enough horror films to instinctively know that you don't investigate noises in the dark on your own.

It is the one-year anniversary of the death of California high school student Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman), who committed suicide after someone posted a humiliating video of her at a party.

Laura's best friend Blaire (Shelley Hennig) is on her laptop, enjoying an intimate video chat with her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm), who wants to lose his virginity with her at prom.

Their flirtation is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of friends Adam (Will Peltz), Jess (Renee Olstead) and Ken (Jacob Wysocki) for a group conflab.

Blaire notices that an uninvited user with the screen name billie227 has gate-crashed the conversation.

The friends assume it is a technical glitch.

Soon after, Blaire receives a cryptic message, apparently from Laura's dormant Facebook account.

The school friends are convinced that classmate Val (Courtney Halverson) is responsible and they attempt to unmask her as the troll.

"You each have dirty little secrets," explains billie227 in a message. "I want to expose them."

Unfriended sustains dramatic momentum but does have a couple of unintentionally hilarious moments like when Blaire is directed to a web forum dramatically headlined: DO NOT ANSWER MESSAGES FROM THE DEAD.

Hennig and co deliver solid performances straight to camera, as if they are staring into webcams.

The intriguing set-up promises more than the film can ultimately deliver.

Even though the ghoulish payoff is a let-down, director Gabriadze has undoubtedly stumbled upon an intriguing new way to unsettle audiences, who will think twice about logging onto social media as soon as the end credits roll. 

5/10

Damon Smith