‘Unfriended: Dark Web’ Ditches The Supernatural In Favor Of The Unsettling Reality Of The Internet [Review]

While the original “Unfriended” offered spectral terrors, its standalone sequel focuses on the horrors humans visit on each other – an approach that feels far more on brand with the real world garbage fire that is 2018. In “Unfriended: Dark Web,” the internet and its offline counterpart are bleak places indeed, full of scams, misogyny, and torture, and there’s no way to escape once you’re enmeshed in its traps. This horror film lacks the freshness of its predecessor, but its bleak view on humanity and technology, as well as some truly unsettling ideas and visuals, still set it apart from most of its fellow studio genre fare.

“Unfriended: Dark Web” takes a fascinating approach to making a sequel. None of the characters from the first film return, unless you count the internet itself. And even that villain has shifted: instead of the spirit of a dead bullied girl haunting a group of friends, this time it’s the worst corners of online and the people creeping in them that are responsible for the deaths we see. But the through-line connecting them both is the narrative style originated by director Leo Gabriadze in “Unfriended,” this time with Stephen Susco at the helm, making his directorial debut. Every bit of the action is viewed through one character’s computer screen, with Skype video, Facebook Messenger chats, cryptocurrency exchanges and somehow even more nefarious dark sites giving the audience a peek at how the internet can destroy us – as though we don’t see this firsthand every day. The second time around this screen-centric style still feels relatively new, with its use of Spotify playlists for a soundtrack and the Skype and Facebook Messenger suite of sounds feeling ever more ominous each time they ping.

This time, we’re seeing through the screen of Mathias (Colin Woodell), a 20-something who is trying to build an app to better communicate with Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras), his deaf girlfriend. His new-to-him laptop, which he tells his friends he bought on Craigslist, will help his cause with its faster speeds than his old one. He settles in for an online game night with his friends: conspiracy theorist AJ (Connor Del Rio), couple Nari (Betty Gabriel of “Get Out“) and Kelly (Chelsea Alden), Brit tech explainer Damon (Andrew Lees) and unremarkable other than her name DJ Lexx (Savira Windyani). However, he soon starts receiving messages intended for the computer’s previous owner, and they point toward a use of the device that is far more sinister than Mathias intends. On the laptop, the friends discover a folder of snuff videos of young women, and soon they become targets simply for their knowledge of what evils sit on its hard drive.

Not all the tech and the hacker work feels real (at least to this novice), making “Unfriended: Dark Web” appear somehow less true-to-life than its supernatural predecessor at times. It’s also sometimes silly, particularly in the contortions its characters make to both advance the plot and stick to its own conventions. Even given its tech-focused premise, it’s often inorganic to a fault, giving the audience the feeling that they’re being manipulated just as much as the endangered people they’re watching.

There’s little actual violence on screen, with almost none of the gore that you’d expect from an R-rated horror movie. Instead, it’s the suggestion of what happens that will cause chills. “Unfriended: Dark Web” isn’t afraid of hinting at some truly unsettling stuff, and it’s all the more troubling given (some of) its plausibility. The result of watching this shouldn’t just be staying off the dark web; it should be chucking your laptop and all other devices – after you’ve destroyed all your data and cleared your cache, of course. [B-]