Unfriended

Être devant le système d'exploitation d'un ordinateur pendant 12 heures par jour et ne pas pouvoir s'en échapper même le soir lorsque je veux l'éteindre pendant un film, ce n'est pas du tout agréable. Et regarder des dialogues d'adolescents qui s'ennuient, puis se disputent et enfin sont terrifiés (et sur grand écran !) interrompus par des sonneries constantes et des déconnexions de Skype, c'est encore pire. Mais peu à peu, une aura de mal invisible et surnaturel commence à fonctionner et apporte quelques frissons. Un concept étonnamment prometteur qui, s'il avait été développé plus en profondeur, aurait pu dissuader quelqu'un de se connecter des réseaux sociaux pour une soirée. Ce qu'aucun autre film n'a réussi à faire jusqu'à présent. 3* plus faible. (24/06/2015)

Après tous les contes de fées et comédies, je devais terminer ce réveillon de Noël avec quelque chose de plus audacieux et le film d'horreur original et ultramoderne Unfriended s’est avéré être le bon choix. L’originalité et le concept sont ses plus grands atouts et moi, j’étais rivé à mon siège du début à la fin. Je suis extrêmement satisfait ; ce film colle parfaitement à son époque et on aurait difficilement imaginé ça dans les années quatre-vingt-dix. (25/12/2015)

Uninitiated viewers might be satisfied, but well-read horror fans have long known that Unfriended is a recycled product and brings nothing new to the table; Megan is Missing and The Den, for example, were far more disturbing and objectively better. Unfriended's biggest issue is that it doesn't stand up as a horror film. It lacks scares, it lacks blood, it lacks chills and goosebumps. The deaths of the friends are edited very quickly and we don’t see shit (I had the same problem with Sinister). As for the game itself, the film could have been more disturbing and better developed in that aspect as well, these are huge downsides. On the plus side, there's a lot of realism, since we deal with cybercrime on a daily basis as opposed to serial killers or unexplained apparitions. I also liked that the film aptly depicts today's society of young people who have no respect for each other, no one carries any guilt, no one has a guilty conscience, and what they do to their friend is truly reprehensible. Not bad, not bad at all, just a pity for the horror aspect. 60% (24/06/2015)

This is good work, surprisingly. For the first fifteen minutes, I thought that this theme would only hold up in the short film format. But then the casual conversation film is disrupted, the relationships start to intensify, and evil starts to work through the tiny windows of the blurry Skype image. After that you're just waiting for it to devolve into standard genre explainer and it... great ending. (07/08/2015)

I’m giving it a weak four stars with a clear conscience. It’s not a horror film that would make you pull at your hair in fear, cover your eyes or turn the lights on after watching it, but I appreciate the playful and fun way the vengeful spirit fucks with the Skypers, and, in particular, the original concept, how it’s maintained throughout the film and how convincingly it’s delivered. It’s not something entirely novel, films like The Den and Open Windows used a similar format, but the former switched to other cameras somewhere around the middle, and in the latter the laptop camera begins to disappear and in the end it goes God knows where, because the film completely breaks down conceptually. Unfriended is the first (as far as I know) film that strictly sticks to the concept. It feels realistic (not only technologically, but, surprisingly, also in the behaviour of the characters, including the performances of the actors) and also takes place in real time. For me, reason enough for an above average rating. (20/06/2015)