|
Friend Request
| Released |
22 April 2016 |
| Director |
Simon Verhoeven |
Starring
|
Alycia Debnam-Carey, William Moseley, Brit Morgan, Connor Paolo, Brooke Markham, Sean Marquette, Liesl Ahlers |
Writer(s)
|
Matthew Ballen, Philip Koch, Simon Verhoeven |
| Producer(s) |
Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann |
| Origin |
Germany |
| Running Time |
92 minutes |
| Genre |
Thriller |
| Rating |
16 |
|
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Computer says no.
Hollywood cinema has never had a great reputation for representing those people in society who are a little different. One such unfairly maligned group are the Goths. Rather than being portrayed as the sensitive, creative souls that they are, many horror films take the side of the popular kids who call their black-clothed brethren “freaks.” Friend Request is a particularly egregious example of Goth hating; not only suggesting that the mean girls are correct in their suspicions that pale kids who enjoy Tim Burton-esque animation must be in league with the devil but also that, secretly, all Goths really want, is to be part of their shiny happy gang.
The shiny happy ones in question here are Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey), her two roommates Olivia and Isabel, and their attendant boyfriends. Laura is a super popular college student with a heart of gold, so when she receives an online friend request from the quiet and spooky Marina (Liesl Ahlers), she of course accepts, even though her friends think she’s the class oddball. They turn out to be right; Marina’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and Laura reluctantly unfriends her. Seemingly shattered by this betrayal, Marina takes her own life, vowing to take revenge from beyond the grave.
A horror film based around social media... Haven’t we seen that somewhere before...? Indeed, with the vastly superior Unfriended still fresh in the horror fan’s memory, Friend Request feels hopelessly unoriginal by comparison. Aside from the inclusion of tech-savvy witchcraft, this is standard teen horror fare albeit competently made. Director Simon Verhoeven creates some interestingly gory set pieces and the sound design’s use of mobile interference on the soundtrack is a nice touch. Unfortunately, this can’t compensate for the fact that the acting is only passable and none of the characters are charismatic enough to be particularly interesting.
Friend Request is by no means terrible (I have to admit, some of the jump scares are actually pretty effective) but it is perhaps a film for the younger horror audience.
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Linda O’Brien |
