Meet Laura (Debnam-Carey), a popular college student taking some vague class on Internet Addiction Disorder or something, who befriends the shy, perpetually hoodied Marina (Ahlers), who subsequently becomes obsessed with Laura. Which brings us to Friend Request, a film whose thesis statement seems to be “Never befriend the outcast lest you be plagued by demons.”
Nowhere is this more apparent than in this new class of millennial horror films revolving around particular aspects of social media ( Unfriended, #Horror). From the telephone ( When a Stranger Calls) to computers ( Brainscan, The Lawnmower Man), these devices figure prominently in a subgenre that turns the latest advancements of the future into cautionary tales of a society gone too far. “Friend Request” is less insightful than a tossed off status update.Horror films have always used technology as a catalyst for terror. While flawed itself, the 2014 thriller “Unfriended” was far more savvy about social networking and the way teens interact with technology. (Exclusively, apparently - have these kids never heard of Snapchat or Instagram?)
But what did Laura and her friends do that was so wrong? You want horror stories to lay out some sort of tangible morality play, but there’s no grounds for Laura and her friends to meet their grisly ends. From the grave, she haunts Laura and her friends, posting on their pages and causing them real-world harm. When things get a little too intense, Laura unfriends her, leading Marina to commit suicide.Įxcept that’s not it for Marina. Marina takes this as a vow of undying friendship rather than a throwaway click, and begins stalking Laura in real life and online. Marina, friendless on the ’Book, sends Laura a friend request, which Laura accepts.
Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is a popular college student, Marina (Liesl Ahlers) is the social outcast who wants to be her. That’s the idea, if you’re being generous with the term “idea,” behind “Friend Request,” the lame supernatural thriller that adds a social networking twist to an otherwise conventional horror tale. But what if it was used as a tool of - cue shrieking sound cue - THE DEAD? What with all the fake news, your crazy uncle’s unwanted political grandstanding and the shirtless selfies that guy you went to high school with keeps posting, Facebook is scary enough on its own.
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