Unfriended: Dark Web Information

Unfriended: Dark Web is a 2018 American found footage horror film written and directed by Stephen Susco. It stars Colin Woodell, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel, Connor Del Rio, Andrew Lees, Stephanie Nogueras, and Savira Windyani. It is an in-name-only sequel to the 2014 film Unfriended, and follows a group of friends who find a laptop that has access to the dark web, only to realize they are being watched by the original owners.

The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest festival on March 9, 2018, and was released in the United States on July 20, 2018, by Universal Pictures' OTL Releasing and Blumhouse Productions' BH Tilt. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and has grossed over $3 million, against a production budget of $1 million.

Plot

Matias O'Brien (Colin Woodell) is working on a new laptop he has acquired, originally belonging to someone named Norah C. IV. He gets working on his app Papaya, which hears the user's voice and posts their words on the screen. He is making it for his deaf girlfriend Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras). She gets on a video chat with him so he can show it to her, but she's upset because the app only makes it convenient for her to understand him, but not for him to understand her. She hangs up. Matias logs out of Norah's Facebook page but keeps getting messages addressed to Norah. Matias gets on a Skype video call with his friends - tech wiz Damon (Andrew Leeds), conspiracy theorist AJ (Connor Del Rio), DJ Lexx (Savira Windyani), and couple Serena (Rebecca Rittenhouse) and Nari (Betty Gabriel). They play Cards Against Humanity while Matias tries to get back in touch with Amaya. He tells Matias to clean out the hard drive since it may be full. Matias sees that this is indeed the case. Serena and Nari reveal that they just got engaged. Serena wishes she told her mom sooner because she is on life support due to brain cancer.

Matias sees a message for Norah about payment they received for a video Norah shared. The user, Charon68, talks to Matias through another message board, asking if the payment went through. He asks what it was for, and they mention a video, as well as trephination. Matias looks up trephination, and they all learn it means drilling a hole in the skull. Matias stops talking to Charon68 when it gets too disturbing. Damon realizes that "Norah C." is just Charon spelled backwards. The group then views the videos on the laptop, most of which are of girls being tortured. The last video is of a girl sleeping in her room while a kidnapper enters and looks at the camera. Matias looks up the address on the video and sees that a girl went missing from there: it's Erica Dunne, the person who's account Charon IV was using. Amaya is in the shower, so her roommate Kelly (Chelsea Alden) goes to the camera to talk to him. The screen goes black for a moment, but when it returns to normal, a hooded figure is standing behind Kelly. He knocks her out before carrying her into the closet. The figure turns out to be Norah C/Charon IV (Douglas Tait). He demands the laptop back immediately, or he will kill Amaya.

Before Amaya returns, Matias notices Nari trying to call the police because of the videos. He stalls and says it was all a game he's making since it's game night. They're relieved but also upset at Matias. Lexx leaves to take a phone call. Amaya comes back and Matias tries to convince her to come over, with Charon IV putting immense pressure on him. She is still upset over the app, thinking that he's not making an effort to learn ASL for her since he only went to one class that she signed him up for. Matias admits that he got scared when the instructor said how difficult dating a deaf person could be, but he truly wants it to work out for them. Amaya decides to take the subway to meet with Matias, with Charon IV following her as she keeps the video chat open so Matias knows she is safe.

To ensure Charon IV complies, Matias transfers all the crypto-currency in his account into Matias's, which freaks Charon IV out. He contacts Matias through video chat, angrily chiding him for his actions. Matias says he'll get the money and laptop back on the promise that Amaya is safe and that Erica is returned as well. Matias then receives messages from The Circle, a group of hackers all using variations of Charon as their handles. They pull Matias into The River, a dark-web message board they all use. They seem to know about Matias taking the money, and Charon IV reveals his face to talk to Matias. The Charons demand proof that Matias is Charon IV, so he tells Matias their creed so that neither of them gets killed. Matias types it in, and is briefly left alone. They see what seems to be Lexx standing on the building's roof. A Charon appears behind her and pushes her off the ledge to her death. The Circle then play a video of Nari and Serena talking about revealing their engagement to their friends, and about Serena's mom. The Circle show camera footage of Nari at the subway and Serena's mother on life support at the hospital. They force Serena to choose which one will live. Serena pleads with them to take her instead. When the countdown ends, the Circle pull her mom off life support, push Nari in front of a train, and kill Serena in her house. The train Amaya was in finally reaches it's destination so she gets off to take another route. Matias attempts to sign to her to stay where she is, and Damon urges Matias to leave.

Matias leaves to get Amaya on his bike while leaving the laptop open so Damon can copy it's files. He talks to the Circle, saying he's been recording everything for the police to find, along with their addresses. However, the Circle quickly photoshops Matias's face over Charon IV's in Erica Dunne's video. A Charon then brings Erica into Matias's closet. Matias is forcefully added to the call from his bike and stops on the street. Damon explains that the circle had planned along for Matias to find the bait laptop and the money so it looks like he and his friends committed the crimes, so the circle can further avoid detection from the law and public eye, and Damon's feed is cut off briefly. Moments later, a Charon pulls Damon in by a noose around his neck and hangs him by his closet door. Another Charon pulls up a word document on the screen and writes a fake confession and suicide note on it, implying everyone killed themselves out of guilt.

Matias asks the Circle why they did all of this, and they repeat a clip of him earlier saying "After all, it is game night" revealing this is simply entertainment to the circle members. Erica Dunne wakes up in Matias's and goes to the computer, begging for help. She pulls a cork out of her forehead to reveal a hole in her skull from trephination. The video cuts off, and a camera feed of Matias in the road is added as the poll finishes with the Circle deciding his death. As he looks at his phone, he is ran over by a Charon in a large van. With their job done and their crimes pinned on Matias and his friends, the members of the Circle at each scene of their death go to their cameras and take off their masks, smiling, including Charon IV, as it is revealed that the audience's point of view was actually from a Charon's computer.

Alternate Ending

In the second ending, Matias texts Amaya to meet him in a familiar spot; where he filmed a video of them hiking and sharing a kiss. He arrives at the site and finds a hole dug in the ground with an open casket, before a Charon knocks him out.

Later Amaya arrives and the hole has been filled. She calls Matias and his ringing phone wakes him up. He realizes that he has been buried alive and tries to text Amaya about his predicament but the Circle changes all of his messages to: "I wish I could sign better." When he attempts to video chat, the Circle pixelates his mouth so Amaya can't read his lips. Amaya gets mad and hangs up, leaving Matias to die as he quickly runs out of air.

Cast

• Colin Woodell as Matias O'Brien
• Betty Gabriel as Nari, one of Matias' friends
• Rebecca Rittenhouse as Serena, one of Matias' friends
• Andrew Lees as Damon, one of Matias' friends
• Connor Del Rio as Aj, one of Matias' friends, an internet personality and conspiracy theorist.
• Stephanie Nogueras as Amaya DeSoto, Matias' deaf girlfriend
• Savira Windyani as Lexx, one of Matias' friends; a DJ
• Chelsea Alden as Kelly, Amaya's roommate
• Alexa Mansour as Erica Dunne
• Douglas Tait as Charon IV
• Rob Welsh as Charon V
• Kiara Beltran as Charon VI
• Bryan Adrian as Jack

Production

Announced in April 2015, Nelson Greaves, writer of the first film, had begun work on the screenplay with Universal setting a release date of Spring 2016. In October 2017, it was revealed The Grudge and Texas Chainsaw writer Stephen Susco had taken over the project as writer and director. Susco shot the film in secret over one week in late 2016 under the title Unfriended: Game Night. In March 2018, Blumhouse officially revealed the as Unfriended: Dark Web at SXSW 2018.

Release

Unfriended: Dark Web was released in the United States on July 20, 2018. It had a surprise premiere at South by Southwest in March 2018, and then in April 2018 was screened at the Overlook Film Festival with an entirely different ending. It was then revealed in July 2018 that the film would be sent to theaters with the two different endings, which would be played at random, similar to 1985's Clue.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Unfriended: Dark Web was released alongside Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and The Equalizer 2, and was initially projected to gross $6-8 million from 1,543 theaters in its opening weekend. However after making just $1.4 million on its first day, including $350,000 from Thursday night previews, estimates were lowered to $3 million. It went on to debut to $3.5 million, finishing ninth at the box office.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 54 reviews, and an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Unfriended: Dark Web is more interested in chills than an exploration of its timely themes, but horror fans should still find this sequel to be steadily, undeniably effective." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, the same score of the first film, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a "low" 59% overall positive score.

In a negative review for RogerEbert.com, Nick Allen wrote "Curiosity killed the dumb horror character, as we know from cinematic death-traps structured just like this one, but Unfriended: Dark Web stretches this conceit until it snaps, which happens about 15 minutes in" and added, "good poutine gravy, are these characters dumb, and the movie even more so."