Unfriended: Darkweb Review: An Insult To Audiences

The Unfriended Darkweb plot had a ton of potential, but ultimately failed to deliver. The thing that made this movie potentially terrifying was the reality aspect. The fact that there really is a dark web and there really are horrible people doing horrible things for their own entertainment makes the film idea particularly unnerving. One thing the film did very well to Capitalize on this was the use of real life web applications. Nothing quite takes you out of the story like hearing characters say "Let me search moogle." or "I need to check my FacePage." Using relatable real world technology creates a realism important for this type of film.

The producers were clearly trying to make Darkweb feel real and make it a "scary because it's true" type of movie, but it didn't work. An abundance of nonsense teamed with lazy writing destroyed the realism the first half tried so hard to create.

Spoilers ahead ...

The biggest issue with Unfriended Darkweb is not exclusive to this film but a problem for horror films in general. The problem is they are all the same. A group of people gets terrorized by someone or something and each one is picked off until they are all dead...the end. Knowing that their is a single formula and one possible outcome eliminates suspense for the audience.

Some films allow for a little more suspense as the typical 'everyone dies' ending is merely an assumption and not a guarantee. Darkweb, however, sets up a story with only one possible end. The fact that the evil at work in this story is an unseen secret society of master hackers who know everything about our characters and can track them wherever they go means that there is no possibility for escape. This is not Jason with a machete and maybe you can outrun him. This is an inevitable death for all of the characters involved. By making the end so clear cut and unavoidable the filmmakers have removed all suspense from the story, all mystery and any real interest in what happens next. It is less of a story and more of a televised execution.

While this film was not horrible like some Netflix horror fair, it just wasn't good. There were no real surprises and the attempts to create interesting turns often made little sense and were insulting to the intelligence of the audience. If you really want to watch Unfriended Darkweb, you would be better off to save your money and wait for it to hit TV or streaming. This one is not worth the price of admission.