It's a movie about a curse that causes you to lose Facebook friends, and then your close friends die in real life.
“Laura is a popular college student who lives her college life to the fullest and gladly shares it with her 800 Facebook friends. But when she accepts a friend request from her mysterious classmate Marina, she unwittingly sets a terrible curse in motion. The dead girl’s impenetrable profile begins to drive Laura into isolation. It takes control of Laura’s virtual world and her real life as well. One after another, her closest friends die horrendous deaths, leaving Laura with only a few days to solve the enigma of this haunting curse to save the few friends she has left, as well as her own life.”
When Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) unfriends a fellow classmate Marina (Liesl Ahlers) when she comes on a bit too strong by sending enormous amounts of messages, video chats, and even stalks her, the unthinkable happens: a curse is set in motion that causes her to lose her Facebook friends! If that’s not the scariest thing that’s ever happened, then I don’t know what is! While trying to get to the bottom of things, her friends start to die in real life as well, with her being the last one on the list.
If there is one genre I wish would be erased from cinematic history, it’s the genre in which social media is prominently featured and is the driving factor in the film. Friend Request tries to capitalize on the popularity of social media platforms, blindly trying to mesh the supernatural with Facebook. The film celebrates what makes social media so terrible, living through your phone, sharing every tiny aspect of your life that no one should care about, and basing your self-worth on the amount of friends you’ve amassed.
The entire plot attempts to recreate The Ring, and how some kind of curse is transferred through a different kind of medium. Although there are many differences between the two, the most glaring is the form that media has taken, digital vs. analog. In The Ring, there is something eerie about a ghostly image being transferred to a tape. In Friend Request the curse is rewriting the code of Facebook itself. This is where the most recent sequel to The Ring failed, relying on the digital mediums to provide the source of the scares and vessel for evil to deliver its terror. What’s next, Demons Snapchatting?
Although I disliked every single thing about this story, the scares in the film are actually very good. I was so surprised that while I was criticizing every nuance in the story, I was genuinely creeped out by some of the scarier sequences, the deaths, and the effects in the film. Another aspect is the fact that it is Rated R. Knowing how the studio thinks, it would have been beneficial for them to tone it down quite a bit to meet their target demographic by sacrificing some really great scenes. In this, I respect the fact that they didn’t, so that earns points in my book. If it weren’t for the story itself being about losing Facebook friends, I may have enjoyed it quite a bit. Admittedly, I’m sure the older generation may have felt the same way about The Ring, so there may be fans in the younger generation who unfortunately grow up with the importance of social media instilled into them who will enjoy the film.
Video
Friend Request is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.35:1. The film looks quite good, with a great balance of color throughout. There are some interesting digital effects that add a unique element to the film, as integrating a social media page into a movie about social media pages can seem quite challenging. Overall, a good transfer with no defects noticed.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The audio track sounds fine, utilizing the surrounds for some great creepy sound effects and jump scares. The balance is well maintained throughout as well, clearly hearing the dialogue in the center channel despite some of the louder effects. Complete with a score that keeps the pace of the film moving, there are no complaints here.
Special Features
Only one extra on the disc.
- Friend Request: The Social Nightmare
Unfortunately, deleting Friend Request from my memory is about as easy as permanently deleting Facebook. The story caters to a generation obsessed with status, and although it does provide some good scares and unique horrors, the story itself won’t allow you to enjoy a moment of it.