I don't want to out myself as a lame old man, but I don't have Facebook. So I was a little concerned about not understanding what was going on in Unfriended - the entire film unfolds on a laptop screen, mostly via Facebook and Skype. The film is able to do some interesting things with the set-up, and the story is much more fleshed out than you think it would be when you hear it consists entirely of a half-dozen kids talking on Skype. But you learn enough through side conversations, web browsing, and youtube videos that it's as easy to follow as a traditional narrative.
So for the first half of the film, Unfriended is pretty effective and occasionally creepy, as some sort of malicious, computer controlling spirit has it out for our teenaged friends. But it doesn't put that set-up to good use, as the film eventually devolves into a half hour of kids screaming at the camera. I think the idea is screaming/noisy = tense/scary, but it just doesn't work.
The story: one year ago to the day, Laura Barnes killed herself after an embarrassing video of her being all drunk at a party was posted on youtube - you think "cyberbullying," but it's not a concept Unfriended is too interested in exploring. Just get to the revenge! Anyways, the six kids on their computers are Laura's former "friends," and they are just skyping away (as the kids do nowadays) when an unwanted caller (with the generic blank-faced avatar) butts in. They try to ignore the troll, and eventually hang up and call each other back. But the mystery person won't go away... even Fat Hacker can't get rid of them! The mystery caller begins sending messages from Laura's Facebook account, and seems to have intimate knowledge of the group. The kids think it's a prank at first, but it quickly becomes apparent that there is more going on here. Could it be a g-g-g-g... ghost? Has Laura returned from the grave to exact her revenge? Yes! She has!
Apparently, dying gives you the ability to control the internet. I was personally hoping for more of a physical entity - I think found footage type horror always works best when there can be something lurking around in the background. But the ghost/spirit/whatever here pretty much just possesses you and makes you do stuff, like stick your hand in a running blender. Which is kind of threatening, I guess... but just not as effective as I had hoped. The actual possessions/violence inflicted on our characters, while not kept to a minimum, could be a lot more intense. There are a couple of gory moments and a few thrills, but there's nothing here that is going to be offensive for people who sometimes watch horror movies. Unfriended keeps things suitable enough for the teenage date night, which I assume is what it's trying to do. (I mean, don't get me wrong - it earns it's R-rating. But it's not trying to appeal to a seasoned or mature crowd.)
So, it's not all that tense, and the last 30-40 minutes are very grating. Seriously, as soon as they started into "Never Have I Ever" I punched out. So what's to like? Mostly just the set up, and how much the film can achieve within the confines of a laptop screen. The anonymity of the mystery stalker is actually pretty well-utilized. We've all had our experiences with shitty random people on the internet. For example, whenever I'm feeling too good about the state of humanity I'll just go to the comments section of... well, any major website. So the mystery face feels like it has a little more real weight than just a random ghost might. I also liked the bits of character building... it really only worked for Blaire (it's her laptop), but little things like her music playlist, or the way you could see what she would type - and then erase - before she'd hit 'send' was a pretty good insight into her character. It speaks to the concept of who we actually are versus how we want to be perceived - something we have control over in the medium of social media. (Until some jerk posts a video of you all drunk or something.)
But ultimately, I don't know if Unfriended has all that much on its mind. It's got a creative and well-implemented set up, but what will stick out in my mind when I look back on the film is a bunch of "teenagers" screaming at each other for a half hour.
I would not really recommend this film.
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