Who Would Watch This?
Who Would Watch This?
Who Would Watch 'Unfriended'?
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In this week’s episode of Who Would Watch This, we continue the Month of Zoom, our most popular tradition.
This Zoom and Skype based movie is the one that started it all: Unfriended.
A group of teens are haunted through Skype by their former classmate, who took her own life due to their actions.
Oscar and Carl watch this modern masterpiece and ask, who would watch this?
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My name is Oscar. My name is Carl. And this is Who Would Watch This?
SPEAKER_02Welcome to Who Would Watch This, the podcast where we watch a film, we chat about the film, and then we try and figure out who would watch this.
SPEAKER_01Today we're talking about Unfriended, which currently has a 62% on Rod Tomatoes, a 6.6% on IMDB, and a 2.4 on Letterboxd. Oscar, what's the plot?
SPEAKER_02A group of online chatroom friends find themselves haunted by a mysterious supernatural force using the account of their dead friend. Oh my god. Carl, before we get into Unfriended, should we go to last week before we'd seen the film when we try to figure out who would watch this? That's right, taking your whole line. Taking the whole line from you.
SPEAKER_01I don't have any lines anymore. I've got nothing left to say. I know. Well, when you we cut back, I I'm not gonna have any more lines after that. It's just your podcast now. Fuck it. It's about time.
SPEAKER_00Zoom. Zoom. Zoom zoom zoom.
SPEAKER_02Carl, as you recall, it is zoom month, you know? People, people have been around the world being like, you know what I need? I need to be looking at my screen more. I want to be if I could possibly look at my screen while on my screen.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god. People are getting way more pro screen. Yeah. And I am all for it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Look around. Everyone's like, I gotta be consuming more.
SPEAKER_01And that's good. As somebody deeply depressed at the end of the day from Doom Scrolling, I'm all for more screens.
SPEAKER_02Here's what you want to do. You want to watch another screen. If you ever had you ever watching TikTok and you thought, hmm, maybe I could watch YouTube Shorts at the same time? You can. Put Instagram reels up there. Uh-oh, you just reinstalled Vine. It's back in a big way, Carl. Uh Carl, have you seen Unfriended?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I have. Yes, I absolutely have. Um, look, a little bit of history.
SPEAKER_02We've done the sequel. Done the sequel. You gushed about it and have as a sort of running, I wouldn't even say running bit, just it has been your favorite film ever.
SPEAKER_01Um for the podcast that we've ever done. Yeah. Absolutely for sure. I don't think we've seen about Law Abiding Citizen, I think, has come close. That's just a great film, you know, there's nothing wrong with that. Um, and then oh god, there's probably some others that would have been actually definitively a good film, so they don't count. But like one that is perceived as bad.
SPEAKER_02And it's just it's gone over. If it goes into a good category, then it's just a good film. And then at that point, it's like a seven out of ten.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like I can still acknowledge Dark Web and Law Abiding Citizen are not good films, but my god, they are phenomenal films. I get a lot out of them. I get a lot out of them. Absolutely. Um let's rewind. Yes. The year's 2014.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'm there. I'm there.
SPEAKER_01I go with a couple of friends to watch Unfriended at the cinema.
SPEAKER_02I also went to the cinema to watch this one. I don't know what actually I know, I do know exactly what the effect is of this. Um, I don't know if you were on Vine at the moment at the time. It was big. This film, and it's only like 90 minutes, has about three memes in it, which is just I mean, that's good uh equity, you know?
SPEAKER_01Oh, absolutely. You're mining for memes. 100%. That's all you need.
SPEAKER_02That's just good stuff. Um, I feel like my first reaction was the trailer. It was like, hands up, who's doing this? I love that. Yeah, that got a lot of when it says when he said my name's Jeff at the in the middle. Holy shit, I hollered and hollered, you know, for days. I was I was re-vining that, you know, Carl, a lot. Um, no, but I thought that was what a niche reference.
SPEAKER_01Do we think that's still relevant? What?
SPEAKER_02Which one? My name's Jeff. No, I'm saying in 2014 it was relevant. Now it's not relevant. I'm not watching it now like a fucking idiot. I'm not going on Vine comps and going, I need to go look up uh unfriended compilations. I looked up two. I looked up two. You should be, it's popping. It's popping. It's fresh as ever. All the comments were from 11 years ago, and I put one next that Who's here in 2016? Who's here in 2026? I got zero likes. Oh, what a rush. Like if you're watching during the oil crisis of 2026. No, but Carl, uh, yeah, I also watched this in cinema. What do you think? How your friend's reactions.
SPEAKER_01I remember thinking it was a fun time. Like I think we we were doing the classic, uh, I think Tuesdays had at the time maybe like eight dollar tickets or something. You would get in for a nickel back in the day. It was for a dime and a blowy. God, the cinema was alive back in the day.
SPEAKER_02I went Iron Man 80 times. Sucked up every venue manager. Sometimes I wouldn't even go in. Just go. We were whoring ourselves out. I didn't see a single film that year. My god. Ah, the summer. Go on.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, look, and I I I remember we all had a lot of fun. I never revisited it, I don't think, but I I distinctly remember um my big thing that I remember from it is they play a game of never have I ever. And I remember being like really into the film at that point. Like I I think we were all, all of my friends are all having a lot of fun with the movie. Yeah. Um, and if there was one takeaway I think I had was I think when I went in, I was like, this movie won't be able to sustain 90 minutes. Yeah. Um, and I remember leaving, being like, pretty good job. Yeah. Like a low budget horror horror film in the end, this is a creative way to do a low budget horror film. And I remember being like impressed in comparison to the other low budget horror movies that were coming out at the time that were fucking shithouse.
SPEAKER_02They're horrible effects and everything like that. Whereas this one, I just remember the just being on Skype. I remember thinking it kind of nailed the internet at that scene. I remember thinking that too. I remember being like, oh, that's like I feel like it was such a year of just like, I'm gonna go tweet at you. Hey, you know, you're a nut, you're you're smelly. Whereas this one was like, kill yourself. I just tweeted, I just DM'd you. You're like, that's what I'm used to. That's the environment I'm at, you know.
SPEAKER_01I I remember thinking that I thought the messages to each other were more aligned to what I would send to someone at the time. Yeah. Like, I don't think it was one of those ones where they shortened everything to letters. It was like occasionally they did, but other times they didn't. It was no speed, it was typos. And extending words. Yeah. From memory, there's a lot of extensions of like hello, which I still do now.
SPEAKER_02How good's how good's a few O's chucked in there? Maybe an L or two. I love a word being long.
SPEAKER_01You ever said I love you to someone, just chuck a lot of E's in, a lot of O's.
SPEAKER_02It works, a couple of E's. Jesus Christ, you're slut. Now, yeah, no, I also very much enjoyed this. I again, like, if someone was like, That's dog shit, I'd be like, Well, I'm not gonna defend it. But I remember thinking, even though it had a lot of like mocks memes, and there's a lot of times where I feel like the internet gets a trailer, goes, check out this foolish thing. And then you see it in context, you're like, holy shit. I feel like uh the conjuring movies, one of them has like the clap thing. That was also that's terrifying in the movie. Marriage story, I was like, check out this foolish scene where it gets angry, a devastating blow. My god. Um, so social media is great, guys. Check it out. It's it's on the app store.
SPEAKER_01Um you can be a part of it. Everyone's invited, and yet it feels like no one's welcome.
SPEAKER_02No one's welcome. And if you're not, if you play your cards wrong, you'll be forever mocked and you'll be just laid to the ground and spat on.
SPEAKER_01There's two people on the internet. We know it's not kind. It's not kind, not kind. And horrible things said about us.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but it's I mean, and we've got nobody here, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know. And we're thank god we're in a corner. Yeah. Like I appreciate that we're in a corner. We have a little fan base that likes us.
SPEAKER_02I get a little bit out of it, but you get you get, I mean, here's the thing: you get, I don't know, a million people looking at you. A hundred thousand, uh, ten thousand want you dead. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And that's fine. That's just statistics. When my little corner expands, like if the who would watch this corner expands every time it's terrifying. It's never not been terrifying anytime they've been like, people really like this one thing. Okay, let me get a gun. And they're just like, you fucking cunts. And you're like, oh god, and they're like, I'll dox you. I know you're addressed.
SPEAKER_02You're like, alright, alright, I'll just kill myself. That's fine. Oscar, who would watch Unfriended? I th I'm pretty keen want to re-watch this. I feel like we had so much fun with the dark web. I can't even remember. I can't remember why. I think we loved the villain, or maybe we just hated the characters.
SPEAKER_01I don't remember the twist being that it wasn't supernatural. Yes. And that I got really swept up in the fact that they were like, no, it is like somebody really just tormenting some kids, and that was fun.
SPEAKER_02And I feel like that is a classic like sequel to horror films of like it's actually not very Brahms Boy 2, if you will.
SPEAKER_01It's very, it's the opposite of a Brahms.
SPEAKER_02They de-Brahms. They de-brahmed the unfriended franchise. Um, but I remember that, yeah, kind of working. And I just feel like, yeah, I'm quite excited to re-watch it. Who do I think it's for? I think people feel nostalgic for 2014, you know. Uh how the internet was. How the internet was, and honestly, I think as just a testament to we've seen Mercy, we've seen uh War of the Worlds now, and as the same producer and director, those those directed by the producer of this one. Yeah. So there's obviously some artistic uh, you know, merit to this. And I feel like this one has it.
SPEAKER_01Well, because a fuse was lit, yeah, right? You know, like suddenly there's a few of these popping up. There was this, and then we also had the searching and the missing, yeah. So there was something started which made people hungry for this. That if they spent X amount of money they knew they were getting back a certain return.
SPEAKER_02I think that's what what that's what I like. I get like this weighted like a lot of money off, I assumed a nothing budget. So it's crazy that Mercy was like, what if we pumped money into that? But that's not this model, you know. Uh which is crazy.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Who do you think is gonna watch it, girl?
SPEAKER_01I think I would love someone now to watch it. Someone younger, someone younger? Like, because in my mind it is for I must have been 18 or 19 when it came out. I mean, mathematically, I could work it out, but I won't. Yeah, no, don't. Um I was 18. I'm actually quite good at simple addition and subtraction, so I'll squirt it out right now. Who's who's editing this? You can put in a longer pause. Um yeah, and I thought it was like perfect for us. Yeah. Like the situation I think we were in of going on a cheap Tuesday to watch it, the it had everything everything was in its like way for it to be successful with the group that I saw it with at least, and we all left happy. Yeah. So I think it's so clearly for like an 18-year-old in 2014. So I wonder like what it's like to watch now if you're 16 to 18 and you watch it and you go, ah, none of this functions the way. Yeah, but I don't know, maybe it holds up kinda. Yeah. Who I I couldn't.
SPEAKER_02Who the fucking knows, you know? Who knows? I guess we're gonna figure that one out. Check out uh we'll be back in a few days.
SPEAKER_01Do you reckon they thought it was going to be a bigger trend post-film? Like we know it started a few, but do we think they thought I'm surprised it hasn't it didn't spawn a few, you know?
SPEAKER_02It's crazy there wasn't one or two. Like it's a nice, easy, low budget way. It's crazy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think the I think what's Goob is searching is obviously the conceders, he's using his lamp laptop to unravel a mystery. Yes. And so that feels like it's probably the most uh correct way for the movie to be done in this.
SPEAKER_02Really.
SPEAKER_01And I think because I I I if I there is one thing I remember, it's also that I'm like, I just didn't buy that they'd all stay online. But in searching, he's always online because that's the reason he's searching, he's searching, you know. So I'm like, I thought it was interesting that after this they then went, how can we use this for is this format right for the genre we're seeing? Yeah. And somebody went, what if we put it in a thriller? Yeah. And I thought that was interesting.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think Mercy kind of falls into that trap because they've literally had to lock Chris Plat Pratt into this machine to do it, you know. So there's obviously like, okay, they're not they can walk away from the screen, it's really easy. Yes, that's right. He's unless you're on bloody Twitter, you know. I'm I'm retweeting whatnot, you know. But no, it's so it definitely is a uh they could see it was an issue, you know. I feel like Unfriended 2 has a better reason for it. Yeah, I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um maybe we do a rewatch. Of one of the I mean, one of the goaded films of all time. People have been saying that. People have been saying that. Everyone's talking about it. I see it pop up in a lot of top fours on Letterboxd.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, look, uh, sight and sound had it at five. It did drop to nine, but then you know, it picked back up to four.
SPEAKER_01Kaufman put it as all four in his recently on the red carpet. Crazy just said four dark webs, thank you very much. And Letterboxd said, God, we're getting that a lot at the moment.
SPEAKER_02It's a very Kaufman-esque thing to do, but you know, it works, it works. Um then stop motioned away. That bugger loves a little bit of creepy stop motion, and not in the Tim Burton way, more in the psychological way, just like I'm a tortured man, you know. What if I put my light in clay?
SPEAKER_01You know, inside feels like this.
SPEAKER_02Carl and Brendan, how are we feeling? Feeling pretty good. Feeling pretty good.
SPEAKER_01They've done it again, they've done it again, and I know it was the first one, and then we saw the second one, but in retrospect, they've done it again. Absolutely done it again. This is I'm having a lot of fun with this. Watching this after having done Mercy and War of the Worlds, you go, Oh, look at the effort.
SPEAKER_02Look at the effort, and it's actually crazy the the lack of editing and speed adds so much more to this. Mercy, you're cutting your like you're trying to keep the audience engaged, and it actually is crazy how engaging kind of just looking at our mouse, literally seeing some countdown go down. I was loving it.
SPEAKER_01If I could go right off the bat with a big compliment, which was something it came to me immediately because obviously we've been watching things weekly. Um I went, wow, great sound design.
SPEAKER_02The sound design is great. I think they've done a bit of a cheeky, not even a cheeky thing. They've gone in the moments that are tense, yeah, we're gonna lower the background to the zoom. And like you might be like, well, that's not diegetic, that's wrong. I feel like they're using a very simple tool to enact that, but then when they get the background of the kids chatting, really good, really effective. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think they look, and I think they sort of cheat at the end because I think you realize I think the movie wants you to think we haven't been looking at a screen, but we've been looking at it through her eyes. Because when she shuts the laptop, yeah, yeah, it's still the same. So I think their idea of the dying. But no, but I think their idea of it being like it's tuning in and out is because I think while we're seeing the screen, I reckon they're detective. I reckon they're saying we're in her head. Yeah, gotcha. Watching. But for me, it was more that I was like, I think they did a great job with like just clicking and um the little d dun when the thing was like, sounds great, yeah. The Skype uh sort of like I remember sound having no effect in the last two movies. No, and this was such a simple like typing, clicking, yeah, d dun when YouTube videos were playing and overlapping, people were talking over each other dialogue-wise.
SPEAKER_02I was like, oh, this is these Lil' sounds are so effective when you've essentially been told it's a very like paranormal activity model of like stare at the screen for 30 seconds, or it'll tell you something scary is gonna happen. Yeah, and then they just have like a boom, boom. It's really effective. It's really good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a good little message just pops up in the corner. The sound lets you know that something different on the screen. You sort of go up there, and like that message is a little bit like, ooh, that's unsettling. Yes, very much just at a at such a good pace. It was just something that really leapt out to me within the first 10 minutes because I was like, Wow, I'm actually into this pretty quickly in a way I didn't think I was gonna do that.
SPEAKER_02I was I was I was immediately into one, it being 2014, and I put it on live leak. I'm like, God damn, how nostalgic, you know? I mean, you kind of go, oh, corporations have made everything so sanitized, and then you look at like 10 years ago, you could watch a dead person with three clicks. Maybe that was a good one. Yeah, that ain't good.
SPEAKER_01Maybe it's a good thing. Yeah, they were like, don't watch this, it's graphic. And I was like, there's more graphic now, but like you can. The um the other thing as well is big big reveal, Jacob Wasaki's in this. Jacob Wasaki, yeah. Wasaki, yeah, yeah. Uh, from Dropouts.
SPEAKER_02Uh this is I I I completely I had vaguely remembered it because again, there was like a meme on Vine with the sort of like end sort of punchline was him blending his hand, which is how he gets done. Um, but yeah, I sort of vaguely remember that. I was like, oh my god, looks so young. He's so funny, he's on dropout. Uh if you haven't seen that, um, but yeah, what a big win.
SPEAKER_01Well, I was like, because I think um, I mean, and we can talk about it, but I I think there's varying levels of successful acting in the movie, but I think he's one of the more successful actors there.
SPEAKER_02He's playing a hacker man, and I know he's not a hackerman. I was like, great acting, great acting.
SPEAKER_01Well, my favorite thing was, and I I like to think that this was his choice, but he smokes out of like 10 different devices over the film, just pipes, electric vapes, a cigarette, a bot. Like, I was like, whoever was like, he's just gonna keep picking things up in the background and smoking them, great.
SPEAKER_02I again again, I feel like we're just gonna keep praising the film. I feel like there's a lot of things where you go, would a character really do that? And quite frankly, when you get a bit of dumb 16-year-olds who have obviously been bullies, you're like, you know what? I think these cunts would do all the things they're doing. You know, it's fine.
SPEAKER_01Well, I thought their each screen, I don't know who would have been behind, I guess the production design. I thought they did a really good job with the rooms and where they were sitting and what that told you about that character. Yeah, I really felt like the characters that they were putting forward. I went, yeah, it makes sense that you're sitting here and what's this mess, or you're this chick sitting in the laundry away from your dog who doesn't shut the fuck up. Like I think the screens felt very lived in. Yes. In a way that frankly, the War of the World Sword is a green screen that never moves. Yeah. Uh, and so you don't buy that he's even sitting anywhere. There's no movement behind him.
SPEAKER_02No, no, it's so it feels so I think the problem with all and I think it's dropped down now, but there was definitely a good like 15 years where films just refuse to understand how just technology works in just an average. I I think they were like, we need to make it cinematic, it's a movie. It's like, no, I know what a feel like I know what a camera on a phone looks like. And if you show me that on a big screen, I'm I then I'm much more immersed. But if you show me a HD forty thousand dollar camera shooting from just a like an aspect ratio, I know I'm not a uh an idiot. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I love that. I mean they've definitely done some like datamoshing, which is like the effect where like the camera sort of like take the pixels take a couple of times, yeah. But the general Skype glitching, very authentic. Um, of course, there's like little things where you're like the mouse has like motion blur, who cares? Generally, generally it's good. Generally, I mean what you're laughing. You should do a half-star review and say that. The mouse, yeah, it feels like there's so many things you can nitpick, but I'm like, uh, what am I what am I doing here?
SPEAKER_01Well, the thing, it's like, look, you've signed up for a movie like this. Yeah, and I think in my head, I just go, wow, this could just be so much worse. Yeah, yeah. And so I pay attention to all the things that I go, this is a cut above other things. Totally. Because I see effort here and they're trying there, and this is entertaining here, and they're doing a good job with the pacing there.
SPEAKER_02Like I've essentially got one of like essentially like a podcast that's cursed. Because that's what you're watching. It's like a it's 70 minutes of people on Skype and shit's happening to them. But that's a that's a pretty hard premise to make engaging.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think we weren't at the time because we all thought it looked really stupid, and then the reviews came out, and people were like, it's I did the exact same thing.
SPEAKER_02All the trailers was all the trailers were like, they do a whole thing on Skype, like that's we dog shit. Yeah, I feel like like don't get me wrong, it's not like watching Citizen Kang. Yeah, I tried, you know.
SPEAKER_01If Citizen Kane was done via Skype, it would hit.
SPEAKER_02God damn, his whole life through just various, I don't know, like uh clips on Twitch. Oh my god. Rosebuds online. How do we find him? What does it mean? Um, should we get into the actual plot, Carl?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think so. So we get introduced to our lead, Blair. Blair. Blair's watching a video of Laura. Um, Laura's killed herself.
SPEAKER_02Laura's killed herself. Uh it's on Live Leak. How good's this? You know, back in the day, you were able just to Google, go on Live Leak, and people just have people dying there. Now you gotta go for like, I don't know, you gotta like send a QR of your face to get that access, you know? The internet's changed, you know, but it's still there. It's still there.
SPEAKER_01I did appreciate that at the time they had paid for all of the right things Google, Facebook, Skype.
SPEAKER_02It immediately takes it out. Whenever it's like Bluegall, it's like, okay, I'm at you have I know what Google is. Yeah, some of them are just called search engine in films.
SPEAKER_01And you go, well, at least name it. Yeah, like put a graphic up.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, no, she's watching the footage of Laura killing herself on live leak. Uh she's also chatting to her boyfriend, uh Mitch. Yeah. And they freaking get her on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I couldn't bel I thought this was bad. I thought I thought it was crazy that he's like, I love having a knife in the room. I thought this is bad for you, Mitch. You've oh, look, he's in a horror film.
SPEAKER_02I'm not happy about it. But if you've never done foreplay, what you want to do is get an array of knives over a webcam, and you sort of go, I'm gonna stab you. And that makes the woman wear.
SPEAKER_01I think they do a really good job with spoilers at the end when it does turn out that Mitch is the one that's posted the video, and you go, Oh, but he seems so sweet. Would he have really done that? And you go, no, he's into knives. Yeah, he's a knife guy. Yeah, look, guys. There's subtle breadcrumbs in the film.
SPEAKER_02Get this the McVillian, the the Macavilli The villain has a knife. I didn't see that coming, you know. Um, would you get into knives? Would you get I feel like honestly, at part like when you get into 30s, now it's just Japanese kitchen knives.
SPEAKER_01I am deafly afraid of knives. Okay, gotcha. Well, actually, not deathly afraid, but I think I really watched Scream as a young kid, and the idea of getting stabbed has always really scared me. Yeah, gotcha. Um, and I've gone to knife throwing, like when you try and aim it at the dartboard and things like that, and I hate it. They're like, hold it by the blade and just throw it confidently, and you're like, I this I I don't like doing it.
SPEAKER_02I think it's axe throwing. What have you done? Knife throwing. I don't think that's a thing. Oh, maybe it's a bit. I mean, maybe I was just a child. I don't know. There's something that's like. Yeah, I was just throwing to the people.
SPEAKER_01I'm scared. Like you should be. You should be. Put the knife down. So that clip from Mr.
SPEAKER_02Wright we were watching? Yeah. That's crazy. Everyone's seen Mr. Wright. Everyone's seen Mr. Wright, and everyone's seen the Anakendrick Sam Elliott scene where they throw knives at each other and there's a they use the chi, you know, that great.
SPEAKER_01If you haven't seen Mr. Wright, you'll you'll you'll absolutely love it. Nobody likes it. I don't like it, but you'll love the scene. Check it out on youtube.com. It's on YouTube, it's got like 43 views. Yeah. So you know it's big.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, no. So they they they're doing a bit of knife play and they're on Skype. Immediately, the film's like five minutes of them sort of just chatting, yeah. Kind of like sexting. Yeah. And it feels very lived in, very like authentic. I feel like that sets the tone of just like it's just them on Skype.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. My favorite thing is because even though this guy's like ripped, or like he's got a six pack, nobody looks good when the laptop's like under you. I was like, oh god, no, this is great that nobody looks good from this angle.
SPEAKER_02It's like getting a dick pic, but you've like just put your laptop there, you know, in the webcam. Like, there's you could be the hottest person in the world. It never looks good. Your chins carved down, your cocks just it's just not good.
SPEAKER_01That's why, like, once we get to a point, either two of the men go, I'm just gonna stand for the film. Just get an optimal angle.
SPEAKER_02They're directing me like, guys, look, I know you're scared, but at this point, you should be stabbed. Your body's disgusting. I'm revolted by you. But they are, they are, they're getting it on. But uh oh, Carl, a frickin' message pops up from our uh lovely Laura. And what what she just killed herself? That's weird. Uh Laura Barnes' messages uh It's a year since her death. Yeah. Classic anniversary.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is when ghosts usually extract vengeance. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So it makes you think, is it like a 365-day thing? Do you think they are here to leap years, you know? Are they sort of like if you died at a leap year, do you think you get like six hours of haunting?
SPEAKER_01I reckon it goes off the moon. Oh wow. And it's just so happens that this is I reckon they go off the moon and the tide.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it just is a crazy coincidence that also links up to a year, you know, and it also obeys the law uh laws of leap years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's very because nobody else on the chat boards mentioned it being an anniversary. They all said moons and tides.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, no, we get on a Skype call, uh-oh, our other band of characters show up and they're freaking heckling our boys. We've got Jess, she's the blonde one. Yep. The sort of I I want to say emo, but more like scene, like 2014 scene. Yeah, you know? Yeah. Uh we've got Adam, he's the alpha. Yeah. He's got a backwards hat. I'd say he's more like a swag bro, but like a 2014 evolution of that. He's a drug dealer, yeah, he fucks women. He fucks women all the time. We've got Ken, that's Jake Wasaki's character. He's the hacker of the group, yeah. And sort of like the Larkin. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh and we've also got Val. Val. Who will get introduced shortly.
SPEAKER_02Shortly. But at the moment, this is our band of characters. They're just Skyping. It's a classic Friday, talking shit.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's fun, except they've got an extra person on there. Yeah. Um I always thought I was I'd forgotten a fair bit of the movie and forgotten how it uh incepts itself into it. And I actually think that the idea of just there's an extra person in this chat is just a good little hook, yeah, little thing for them to overcome for a couple of minutes. I really enjoy it. And the mistakes are low.
SPEAKER_02You know, she's getting set I think because she is getting separate messages on Facebook as it's in a Skype call. Yeah. And she's at the moment sort of investigating. She's like, who is Laura? She's trying to delete uh her Facebook account or unfriend her, and she's also talking to her boyfriend in an iMessage like thing. So there's three things going on. Yeah. And at the moment it's like, that's weird. She's in that. Let me try and unfriend her because this is freaking me out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I think it's her having so many things open as well.
SPEAKER_02I think that's that's the fucking desktop is disgusting, and isn't that authentic?
SPEAKER_01It looks like mine right now.
SPEAKER_02We have a fucking look. It's correct. Is it crazy? You got the exact same thing. You even got like some weird app bobbing at the bottom. You're just like, how fucking annoying. What a great, uh, what a great uh detail. I can't, I think she's uh you torrent u-torrenting something and she keeps bumping up and down. Like God, it's like that is a great detail of just like it's authentic and it's just like it's adding atmosphere.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it totally is. It's adding movement because we haven't got a moving camera. So they're doing lots of I I really liked it. I thought it was super immersive. Um, the person that's doing the chat is Billy227. Yeah. Um Billy227 starts to play a little game with everybody. Um, they put up images of Val onto the onto the internet of her being drunken and obscene. Yes. Now I couldn't work out the friend dynamic with Val. They all seem to hate her.
SPEAKER_02But like here's the thing. And like naturally you go, huh, a weird little group with like five people, and what they all hate Val. But we all know of Val, and Val's a fun vibe sometimes. Yes. She's a party girl, she goes too crazy, and she goes too nuts. And you don't want Jacob's very much, sorry, I can't. I'm gonna call him Jacob, I don't care. Uh he's kind of like, I hate that bitch, she's way too much. And the classic hacker boy and her, polar opposites. Yeah. But everyone in the middle, they can get a little bit out of the hacker boy, but sometimes the hacker boy's too lame. Val, she's a lot, but she's a good vibe. She's good fun. She'll keep it going at the party. Yeah. We want to be a Val, but you don't want to be friends with a Val.
SPEAKER_01No, you never want to be too close with a Val.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Um, but you never want to Val out your life. No, and so basically, uh, we believe Jess has put up the images of Val, but obviously as the audience member, we know something's afoot because we bought a ticket.
SPEAKER_02I purchased a ticket to a horror film, and by God, I'm gonna be horrified. And if that takes if that's just a hacked Skype account, then call me freaked out because cybersecurity's no uh no no feat. God, I wish we had a VPN uh sponsorship right now. What a segue. We don't, guys. Just download, I don't know. You got one you got a favorite VPN? It's not an ad. Tell us. Email us. What's advertised to us? What VPN should I be using?
SPEAKER_01Ask wwgpodcast at gmail.com. What VPN do you use?
SPEAKER_02I I mean, real quickly, I'm using the uh the not the Nord one. It's got the little mole, it's got a uh VPN, and it's quite good. I have had my credit card already stolen twice, though. So it's a great VPN, it just is a little bit uh invasive, but hey guys, check it out. It's the one that has a mole.
SPEAKER_01I use ExpressVPN and it's never let me down. Okay.
SPEAKER_02If you want an actual endorsement, well, no, no, no. Use my one. It's definitely it's it's got it's got moxie. I like I can send them cash. That's why I like the most.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would like that you've sometimes paid in Bitcoin.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they're like, Bitcoin, we got anything. Do what you want.
SPEAKER_01I like when I've come over and you're like, it happened again.
SPEAKER_02I was like, this is why'd you fall for it? I clicked on the worst website I've ever seen in my life to download a nonsense film that hasn't been relevant for 40 years. Yeah, I got my credit card.
SPEAKER_01Oscar, show me the website, it might as well have been designed by Microsoft Paint.
SPEAKER_02Microsoft Paint and just an evil aura. An evil, everything's in either Russian or Chinese, and you're sort of going, Is this the link I should be clicking? I feel, I feel, I feel, I feel good when I do it. It feels good.
SPEAKER_01It feels so freeing. Nobody else has my VPN, and that makes me feel good.
SPEAKER_02It makes me feel special. But yeah, no, they posted on, and I love this, Jess's uh sorry, Val's uh Facebook shared wall. Do you remember this feature? No. You would so, and it was very controversial at the time. You and me would be friends, we would have a separate wall that was split into two columns, and that would be just like a little like timeline of us. Um but but because you're not regularly posting, constantly you'd have like one photo with somebody. Yeah, just tagged.
SPEAKER_01I was never super into Facebook, so honestly, finding out that that exists blew my mind right now. I just assumed they were using their like wall.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, no, that's the classic wall, but this is a separate thing. This was a separate wall. Yeah, separate wall was yeah, and you're and you're you're immediately on the uh the discourse of 13 years ago.
SPEAKER_01Well, they were like they were like, we've created the metaverse, and it's all what was it called that they just shut up. It is called the metaverse, and I was like, oh, I'm just learning about second wall.
SPEAKER_02They're like, this is the problem. At least that was like, I don't know, a small feature someone coded for like four dollars. They cut this cost a trillion dollars, and we used up 40% of the ocean. You're like, well, what was it for? Like, I don't know. I love that little picture of Mark Zuckerberg. No arms, but I walk out.
SPEAKER_01I would life's better in here.
SPEAKER_02I think it would be make it better out here. Did you really understand? Was it just was it just um like uh a chat room? Have you seen that VR chat room? No, you can be any any avatar you want.
SPEAKER_01I'm telling you right now, I've just found out about second wall. Don't talk to me about a VR chat room. You're about to blow your it's been out for five years, it's been out for a while. So the rest of the podcast trying to get the second wall to work.
SPEAKER_02But no, so she does post uh explicit photos of her being a bit of a slag. I those are her words, not mine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love the infight. You know what I do like about this movie? I thought they all had really good yelling. Yes, like I thought it was it was a lot of yelling, it made it feel really frantic. I think that two people would just go at it. Yeah. I wonder if, because it is they've gotten themselves Jacob from Dropout at the time.
SPEAKER_02I wonder, do you reckon they just get a couple of credits before this? So he's uh he's like a couple of things.
SPEAKER_01Well, they always done like Pitch Perfect and things like that.
SPEAKER_02He'd done like a little Oscar baby film where like he plays like a kid that's getting bullied and someone of merit was like a.
SPEAKER_01Cyrus?
SPEAKER_02Cyrus, yeah, I think so.
SPEAKER_01But um, I wondered if they had hired people that they knew were good at sparring. Because Jacob's obviously good at improv. Yeah. Because I wonder if the yelling scenes straight into improv.
SPEAKER_02It feels so improvy. Constantly they're having like these sort of I'm sure there's like pivotal like decisions, but for the general most of it, them sort of reacting, yeah, just being on Skype feels very authentic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I feel like they've been told obviously what the beats are that they have to hit in certain lines probably. But yeah, it does feel like once they're yelling it at each other's throats, it's a bit of like a anything goes situation.
SPEAKER_02And it doesn't and like, I mean, personally, I didn't feel like anyone was really like overacting. No. I felt like, you know, a 15-year-old that's had like their friend like kill themselves over Skype, gonna be a bit wooden, you know, in like a kind of authentic way. I feel like Jess, uh the blonde character sort of has this like quite scared face and sort of is like kind of still the whole time. But it feels very believable, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I think they've gone, everybody should be acting different.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I otherwise you don't want everybody to be behaving the same, and I think they've done a good job of going, you would probably just shut down, you would start lashing out, you would, you would whip out a gun, like because you're that ridiculous a person. My favorite, uh, I thought he was a bit of a weaker actor, but I really liked uh Adam as a character. The big alpha male. The big alpha male, because there is there is a line and it got a big laugh out of me watching it at home today. But man, I got I remember getting a big laugh in the cinema, is when it is revealed that she has cheated on Mitch with Adam, and she's like, it only lasted a second, and he's like, hey. There's little sprinkles of comedy like pretty good. I think the camaraderie as a group works really well.
SPEAKER_02This feels like a very although they are very different friends, you can immediately I'm like, I believe this, and that's a really hard thing to do. Consistently getting like these slasher films getting like six archetypes and making them feel like they are friends. Because there's always two that you're like, get out of here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right. And I look, I think the movie maybe would be way less successful if the if it didn't feel like these guys hung out on Sky.
SPEAKER_02Hung out and also are massive dickheads. Yes because it is doing I love slasher films that are just horrible people. I I feel like those are the most successful. I mean, yes, the ones that do very well, I think have like one or two that's like gorgeous, like like like people latch onto. But I love seeing teens get slaughtered, and it makes even better that they have horrible views and are really childish, and this is one of them.
SPEAKER_01So everybody gets worse and worse through the film. Yeah. So Val is the person that has put up the video. I think maybe the best way for us to approach the movie is to go through each character's death. Yep. Great. You reckon? Yeah, cool. So Val's our first one to fall. Yeah. Um sh now, what's she in trouble for?
SPEAKER_02Posting the video? She's in trouble for I think literally someone, I think the uh I think Laura's messaged her, hey, hey Val, can you take that down? She's like, shut up, you dumb bitch, go kill yourself. Which is a bold thing to say, but it was 2013. Things are different back then. You could say that. Definitely. Uh so she's then sent uh posted a screenshot that she refused to take down the video.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And that makes everybody online turn against her opposite to a wall. Um now it makes everybody think they've killed themselves, right? So she drinks bleach, we assume. Yeah, yeah. Um, she may have had a seizure though.
SPEAKER_02We don't know. I do love that the police rock up midway through and they're on Skype and they're just like, it's co-19. They're like, what's a co 19?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, fun. I thought that was fun too, and they're like, oh, it must be this, and they're like, that's not what they're saying, check the other one. Like, I thought that was there's a resourcefulness as to what you do, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think as I like they were kind of bad at it. They kept like they had to look up four times, and that might be just extending the runtime, literally. Sometimes it feels like that, other times it feels like they are 16 and they're I think it's good tension as well.
SPEAKER_01Like you're ducking through three things it could be until we land on suicide. Yeah, like that's a good reveal. Totally. Um, so I think that's all that's all really fun. I think once this first death happens, I'm into it.
SPEAKER_02I'm into it, and I immediately feel like Laura becomes a way better character as a villain, and I've always felt like she starts having fun with it, you know? Yeah, for sure. You know, I feel like she starts glitching, I feel like she starts, you know, doing little messages, I feel like she's got little fun games to play.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so and I think this is where I was going now. This is a difference between this one and War of the Worlds and Mercy is a sense of humor. Yeah. And I think it's and it's got a realistic like it's got a really fun sense of humor where they've gone, this is a low budget horror film, and this premise is ridiculous. So we're gonna do some fun things. I love that Spotify is open in the background.
SPEAKER_02Spotify been playing just like what like having literally like the soundtrack and be so ironic but then with the situation, but then still having the ability to play music, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Pretty clever. It's also a really good point. Anytime they go to play music, you can see they're having to pad the time so that everybody can accept the situation. It's a part when somebody dies and they all have to take a moment, but if you just watch the screen of them take a moment, it's boring. Yeah. So the so the ghost takes over in a comedic way to sort of pad the time. Yes. And I thought that was a really creative way to make that happen. Yeah. Um, our next death is Jacob, I believe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um So the glitch at this point now is just like, I'm gonna start fucking around with you guys. I've sent you like an email that's just like, hey, click on this. They're like, don't click on that link. I'm like, I might click on the link.
SPEAKER_01Uh Blair clicks on the link. Everybody's like, don't accept the link. Blair's like, I gotta tell you right now, there is a great running gag where because the ghost is awning her computer, she can't do things, but everyone's like, you're just fucking bad at computers, Blair. They keep on being like, just just for the email, Blair. For fuck's sake.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's like, the thing's not there, and like a normal IT is just like, just refresh the fucking page. Refresh the page. God, Blair, you dumb idiot. She also has uh what's it called? Uh ripped the SNL uh Miley Cyrus episode from 2013. I thought that was a beautiful little detail. That's a real nice uh time call.
SPEAKER_01I thought it was I thought it was very like from what we little of we know of the character, I went, that sounds like something she's gonna do. You know, like she's gonna like, oh rip that. Yeah. I I don't know, I just thought the attention to detail thinking about the character was good.
SPEAKER_02I agree. It's twofold because every attention to deal is real good, and then every single video on the side of YouTube fucking bonkers. I loved everyone. Just like this cat did what? I'm like, what the hell did that cat do? And then just like, my trip to Nebraska, 48 billion views. You're like, it must have been a trip. God damn it.
SPEAKER_01No, it was crazy. 75,000 people were like, watch the video where she decided she was gonna kill herself.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I I although I think at the time this was maybe just what was happening. Seeing her do the palm cards of a suicide, wow, what a nostalgic throwback. I mean, it's it's horrible, but like it was such like a Tumblr-esque, beautiful little scene. They've really nailed it, honestly. That didn't really look, I was not a Tumblr person. What the hell were you doing in 2030? You didn't have Facebook or Tumblr. Were you outside playing with fucking birds, you freak? What social media did you indulge in? Tell me. What were you on? So I thought this was a love actually reference. No, massive but the Tumblr taker from Love Actually? It's uh no, I think it was sort of like it was a sort of a like a bit of like a you like the it's many variations, but like some people put like tape over their mouth and they would like have like four photos.
SPEAKER_01Like that guy from Big Brother did back in 01. Exactly like that, exactly like that.
SPEAKER_02Um, but I think this sort of love actually, I mean it's not love actually, it was like sort of like a a trend of like making it seem deep, you know, flurring these palm cards out. Uh a lot of people would write it backwards and then film it, and that was like mocked. Yeah. Um but yeah, this was a sort of like this was definitely on trend, I think. Yeah. Uh not for just suicide, but just for general like this was very on trend for suicide.
SPEAKER_01I feel honestly top ten suicide trends.
SPEAKER_02You joke, but you saw a Tumblr vibe. There was definitely like a suicide aura around this, I think. Jesus Christ. I remember being the depressed social media. 100%. It was like there was- Well, you on Reddit, you fucking loser, just like I was an artist atheism. I got into I got into 2023, I'm a moderator.
SPEAKER_01I've got yeah, I remember finding out about Reddit just before COVID. Jesus Christ. What the hell were you doing? God, I love Reddit now, but man. What were you doing? God, I couldn't tell you, hey, and now I'm so addicted to social media. God, I think I forget how good my life was.
SPEAKER_02I'm doing this, I'm doing the opposite for you, except that now I've like, I've deleted all the apps, and then all I have is like the shitty safari, so then I'll go on YouTube, unsigned in, and just go on YouTube Shorts, and then be so angry for 10 minutes I have to literally throw it away. That's my internet intake, and then Wikipedia for hours. It's a great way to sort of take my time off way.
SPEAKER_01Um I couldn't understand why Jacob. Why was Jacob killed? What was his doing in her day? I couldn't tell ya. I couldn't really.
SPEAKER_02Did we miss that? I think I may have missed that. I feel like he might be engaged. I feel like maybe he tech supported them. I don't know. Maybe they were like, how do you upload a YouTube video? And he sent them like a link of how to do it, and that's and that's his crime. He seemed like the least crime, but maybe it was just at the party and maybe he was just a accomplice.
SPEAKER_01Maybe she asked him for help to take it down, and he was like, nah, maybe it was that. Yeah. She was like, um, Val's not taking it down. Could you take it down hacking wise? I don't want to give the film too much credit in case it legitimately didn't.
SPEAKER_02I don't think I don't think I had one for Jacob. I feel like all the others sort of did. I think Jacob was just sort of there. I think I think he actually got killed because he tried to remove the virus. Right. So I think that might be his reason why.
SPEAKER_01I don't think he deserved to die. Everybody else, everybody else died because they had something to do with Laura. Totally. It makes no sense to be like, oh, the tech, the guy in the chick.
SPEAKER_02He got fucked up, he got blended in his hand and then did his own neck, which is a gruesome death, but really fun. Yeah. Because it is over Skype and it's got the glitch effect, so you sort of get like the PG 13, like his head ripped off, but there's no glitch around the blood. Yeah. So you can still be like, oh wow, we can hold on this for a hot minute. Yeah, it's good.
SPEAKER_01Like I and it's honestly really quick cuts where I think if you like like sat on it for too long, it's stupid.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So it's also the perfect like uh time frame because I feel like Zoom's kind of worked out glitching now. Yeah. Whereas Skype back then was dog shit. So you could get away with like, yeah, no, it's gonna be a bit blurred for a hot minute.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think they're doing a good job using the glitches to I assume also disguise cuts.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of cuts. Disguise cuts, and then like if they not minimize, but they swap to another tab, and in that moment they can swap to a different table quite often.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but it's quite smart, it's really smart. I can understand how they would have been coming up with it being like, we could probably achieve this. This is a good way to do it. Totally. Um after Jacob, I think we get what I I think really works in the film, and that is still I remember thinking it left a big impact on me because I thought it was just a really entertaining part of the movie, and I still think it is, and I think it's when they play Never Have I Ever.
SPEAKER_02It is by far the best sequence in the whole film because one, the idea is that at this point there's four of them left, or three of them left. Jess, yeah, four of them left. They're both uh they're couples, or is it just one that's a couple?
SPEAKER_01I think we're meant to believe Jess and Adam are kind of a nice like an on-again off again. But Mitch and Blair are committed to each other.
SPEAKER_02At this point, it's four against the the virus, and the virus is go, let's play never have it ever. Blair stupid goes, What's that? And everyone goes, Okay, well, we're playing for you. Anyway, uh but at this point, the the the vibe is the four against this virus. And then through I don't think the virus even really tries, immediately gets them to infight.
SPEAKER_01That's what I thought was so it was a really natural progression of let's just get now, let's remove the ghost, and we've broken the group. Totally. And I think that elevated everything finally in the movie. Yeah. Went this is really, this is great, clever.
SPEAKER_02This is one, like cathartic that they're gained their comeuppance of like infighting. Yeah. Two, the comedy of the ghost. Like at one point, Adam's like, okay, let's do a never have I ever. Never have ever fucks my boyfriend, and then the ghost's like Let me tied that up. But the ghost dots counting down. They're like, that's a good one. And even happens, like, yeah, the ghost is count down. Go ahead. Like, I love they're using essentially their villain against each other. That's so funny.
SPEAKER_01It's so good. Um, but yeah, it's like this this scene to me played gangbusters like it did when I saw it the first time. All right, this is just a really fun sequence. Like, this would be a good short, even. Like, I think I would dare say a big look, and we're getting to the end of the movie anyway, by the time this is happening, but I would say the big issue is that I think the movie hits its peak when Adam is killed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh and they do another sort of, and it's kind of cheeky. Like, they both get like a printout, essentially like a like a dark night-esque like boat sequence where they're like, I can't turn around this paper, but it's something interesting. And both of the pieces of paper say, if I turn this around, the other person's killed. Yeah. And uh Mitch is just like, turn it around! And that that is, I think we're just like, that's an extra five minutes to kill someone. But you are right. At that point, it's like I at this point they're all dying.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think like, well, I I remember thinking in the cinema that like it was a fun reveal that the piece of paper was like, just don't show if you show this piece of paper, somebody's gonna die. And Adam immediately kills himself, and I thought that was a good crescendo to the 15-minute sequence we've just seen of it. And I don't think it ever gets its momentum back.
SPEAKER_02It doesn't get its momentum back, I think, because you just saw like the lands of slaughter, the Lambs of Slaughter, and I think the only reveal it has left is just sort of how this all ties back to these last two or three with Jess.
SPEAKER_01And so I loved um I think Jess is a really weak death personally.
SPEAKER_02I mean, don't be wrong, the the the shot of the hair uh straightener in her mouth is aggressive, yeah, but I can't even remember how we got to there.
SPEAKER_01I think it just uh the it starts tainting the game so that she's just the next to go. Yes. Um, and we get her on chat roulette trying to save her, which was fun.
SPEAKER_02Sorry, I do remember the chat roulette sequence. That is uh great because I feel like again, just what a time, what a throwback going on.
SPEAKER_01And I assume probably just the crew is everybody on chat roulette.
SPEAKER_02I think I it's that, or it definitely is a crew, otherwise it'd be just a bunch of cocks just like from various countries, like, oh my god, I don't know. Can I help you? Like, you can help me by a spoon that's cocking your mouth. Like, okay, I'm underage, but that's what this was for. It was a pedophile's paradise, really. But yeah, no, the chat roulette, one girl's like, oh, what I mean, bless. The girl on chat roulette's like, let me call the police. Have you have you not been on chat roulette? Don't fool for this, you know. This is a classic, classic hijinks. Yeah. 101, you know? You always go and chat just mimed.
SPEAKER_01She was like, I'm gonna pretend to call they'll be there in five, ladies.
SPEAKER_02You know, show me your breasts. Yeah, like that's what chat roulette is for. Is that still around? Surely not. Yeah, I must have shut down.
SPEAKER_01I mean, what's the point? I feel like people are more. I think at the time when the internet was happening, people were like, I can talk to anybody. Yeah, and that was a fun, like, chat to anyone in a roulette system. And now everybody's like, I want to be alone. I want to be alone. I've got a I've got a feed that just feeds my dopamine. God, it's a god, it's a rush. Oh my god. Um, so yeah, Jess is killed. We're left with um just uh Mitch and Blair. Yes. Uh I did really like the moment though of Blair turning on Mitch after like saving him and being like, Do you still like me? Him being like, Yes, it's like of course, like this is a significant.
SPEAKER_02The ghost is like, you want to kill him? He posted it. Yeah, he posted the video.
SPEAKER_01Tell me, tell me you did it, and you'll be fine. Yeah. Like, you know, and you're just like, she just turns in immediately. Yeah, I thought that was really I I I liked that little moment. Yeah, I don't think it's as good as some of the other moments, but I thought that was the last strong moment of the film. Uh so I I enjoyed that. And then we get like the I really like seeing Blair be like, we were friends, like showing her on the the double wall, if you remember correctly.
SPEAKER_02She's scrolling through, like, look at her memories. She has maybe three. One's a baby picture. That doesn't count, honey.
SPEAKER_01We were at the same hospital that day.
SPEAKER_02You're like, oh god. We've got the same credit card. Remember that? Oh, isn't that romantic? She's like scrolling, she's like tears in her eyes. The ghost is like, You're dying. You posted me shitting myself online. Of course, I killed myself.
SPEAKER_01It was nuts as well that when we finally see it, she's like, Gotcha.
SPEAKER_02It's like, whoa, yeah, Blair's filming her just being like, what a bitch. You're never that you're never a friend that would do that. That's crazy. It deserves death. I'm sorry. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and so if we're working our way back, I also I thought it was crazy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to skip over it, but Jess starts a rumor that Blair has an eating disorder. I thought this was crazy.
SPEAKER_02Again, that never happened ever. We could really breezed over it, but there's some really funny ones. Just like just like who stole a tampon and like ate it. You're like, that was me. Okay, hands up, that was me.
SPEAKER_01Sorry. It was funny. I liked it because Jess was like, I don't know, do I see you eat?
SPEAKER_02Prove it, Mitch. Yeah. It's it again, and it feels very authentic of just like, these are horrible evil people. Yeah, they deserve death, you know? Uh, but they're also kids. Oh, youth.
SPEAKER_01You make all the wrong decisions, but yeah, it is a bad time. Look, not like the movie's deep or anything, but I thought it was coming together in a nice way of being like, Look, we were friends, and this is like a social media thing of being like, I can I can prove it, and it's like, yeah, but it doesn't go away. Like the things that you put up there are here to stay. Oh, wow, snaps. And no, but I mean in in like a in a blatant like if you post it on the grid, that's a fish. I just think it's a movie that is tried the whole time. And you know, and after watching two fucking lazy versions of this format, yeah, this one for less money than the other two, probably, tried even higher.
SPEAKER_02I can't imagine how little. I think they so they rented a house, they're all in separate rooms in the house. It's god, I don't even know like what even like crew you're even getting, really. I mean, it's probably an editor, a writer, and just sort of uh I assume a great graphic person as well. And that's afterwards, but you have essentially like sort of semi-producers in each room kind of looking over the story. You've got a general stuff, and they're probably just like pickups essentially. So, real small crew. I think their budget is listed for a million. I assume that's just for the even the distribution. I think Universal picks it up. Um but yeah, so cheap and so effective. So you can't really, I can't hate. Whereas you've got this Chris Pratt one, you're like, this just feels spent 80 million, you could have made 80 on friended. Yeah, yeah, give it a go. It'll make more money, sure.
SPEAKER_01You know, you would like you know, and then honestly, your hit rate only needs to be like one in ten. Yeah, 100%. You get yeah. When out went went out to like a bunch of like up-and-coming creatives, and you said you all get to make like a Skype-based film. Yeah, do with it what you want, like any genre.
SPEAKER_02It's like the superhero era. We got the Skype era. It's happening.
SPEAKER_01I feel we've missed it, Oscar. Yeah, we have missed it. I reckon after this we could do like the a spoof movie of the of the Zoom films.
SPEAKER_02Honestly, a short film of just like a horrible work Zoom. Yeah, I'm surprised that hasn't popped up because that's would be really easy and cheap, and it's fucking horrid. It's vile. I hate being on Zoom for the office stuff. It's disgusting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's so yeah, and look, that's when it works. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Carl, who would watch Unfriended?
SPEAKER_01Uh look, I still think this is I I do now genuinely wonder if this is approachable to somebody that didn't grow up during this time. Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_02I think I'm getting wrong. I'm I'm getting a lot of nostalgia from that, which is disgusting to say, but it's really enjoyable uh looking at these sort of artifacts of what it was like sort of being on the internet at this time, sort of time. Um it would be very interesting. Don't mean wrong, it's not a great film, but I think it is a bad fun watch, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think it's entertaining. Like, and I think I've seen, I've just seen, I remember the time constantly going to the movies and seeing worse cheap horror films made by Blumhouse, who also made this, yeah. And being like, oh wow, at least this is new and the actors work well, and that it's funny, it's cheeky. Yeah, I don't think the best thing about this movie is that it is not taking itself as seriously as you think it might.
SPEAKER_02No, I think the trailer really sold that it was, and I think there is just this very sort of we know, like we're doing a Skype uh slasher film. The fact this is working great.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Um, and I just think it has one really, really good sequence in it. That I think without that sequence, personally, probably would not be a recommend for me. But with the sequence, I think is a recommend. Yeah. The but I think it is definitely for people our age. So if you haven't seen it, I think you'd get something out of it.
SPEAKER_02Totally, totally. I think just like seeing all the links, there's like so many like little references to like, I don't know, I've been listening to the Chain Smokers and I'm listening to watching a lot of Teen Wolf. Just those little things I'm quite enjoying. I think it is a nice time capsule of his period, you know. Yeah, or just how those desktop desktop apps used to work. Yeah, I mean, don't you wrong? It's it's pretty much the exact same.
SPEAKER_01I was like, oh, I was nostalgic for how Spotify looks like look like dog shit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, look like Apple. Well, yeah, remember that? They were just like, we're iTunes, but you can rent us. Oh, we gotta look like iTunes. God, I've not updated iTunes in a while. Do you think that's an issue? You're nodding aggressively. Has something happened? I have not synced my iPod for a hot minute.
SPEAKER_01Oh god, we should do that soon. I got a shuffle, got a nano, got them all. What was the one that was like just a square with a screen? I always call that was called a shuffle. That was the shuffle.
SPEAKER_02Wait, wait, with a screen? Yeah. That was the nano. That was the nano. Depends what generation.
SPEAKER_01No, no, the nano was the tall and skinny one with a screen. I mean the one that was just a square with a screen. Oh. Do you remember that one?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I think that was like for poor people. It was very easy. I had it. Because it was like a shuffle that you could see like just the line of a song, right? Yeah. Oh, I think there was a very small nano. It might have been the nano shuffle. I think it might be the nano. Was it like a screen that was like a square? Yeah. I think it was the nan, I think it was the the the latest gen nano touch, I think. That was late in the game.
SPEAKER_01It was just a square screen. That was the nano. Yeah. Sixth generation. Just that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, great. That's it.
SPEAKER_01You could watch a film on it.
SPEAKER_02You could not watch a film on it, could you? Could you actually? I don't think so. I remember the ch I love the charging point. It was the orcs court. I was like, how the hell do they do this?
SPEAKER_01That was clever. And yet we're told now they can't do that anymore. Ridiculous. Shut up.
SPEAKER_02Get your shit together, Apple. I'm selling my stocks tomorrow if you don't.
SPEAKER_01I'll say it. Um, all in all, I still think this is a fun time. 100%. Um, what about you? Who would watch Unfriended?
SPEAKER_02I uh honestly, I uh you're just liking uh cheap filmmaking and effective creative uh decisions. This is a big one. I think you'll get a lot out of it, and it is just enjoyable. And again, it's 70 minutes. It's 70 minutes-ish. What would you reckon? I mean, with the logos at the start and the credits, you're looking about 70.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I would to be on the film side, 75. Yeah, it's not a dumbo.
SPEAKER_02It's a smidge above dumbo.
SPEAKER_01It's a smidge above dumbo. They erase the crows from this one. Remember there being more crows? Yeah, where the hell are the crows at, you know?
SPEAKER_02I'm yeah, I I I feel like, and I feel like the producer, I get why he's like, I'm gonna make a sci-fi one, I'm gonna make a romantic one, I'm gonna make a bunch of these ones is funny to see somebody produce this and then not fundamentally understand what worked about it. Yeah, right. It's a bit of shame. Yeah, shame.
SPEAKER_01I think you'd go, oh, we can keep upping this. Yeah. And for whatever reason they haven't.
SPEAKER_02And it makes it expensive. Yeah. I can't believe the power of this is that it's cheap and effective. And I like when you nail the technology, which I guess is the hard work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no. I mean the fact that War of the Worlds couldn't do it, and then I mean Mercy simply just looks like an action film. Yeah, it looks like an 80 million, it doesn't look like an 80 million dollar movie, but it is an 80 million dollar action movie contained to a screen. Just bizarre.
SPEAKER_02Crazy, just crazy, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh, Oscar, what are we reviewing next week? Carl, unless someone emails us for another one of these films that we have not heard of, we're doing the Tim Allen Classic Zoom. Gotta love an email. It's Zoom month.
SPEAKER_01And you did work out we hadn't seen Zoom. I have we have not seen Zoom. I went back and checked.
SPEAKER_02I'm absolutely sure. I'm so sure you wouldn't believe it.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Alright, I trust you.
SPEAKER_02I couldn't believe it either, though. Because I've seen Zoom in the last have you? Four years. Have you? Yeah. I don't know why I have. That's not good on you. Yeah. It's not good on me. It's not looking good. Something's gotta happen, you know? It's just something's gotta give. Something's gotta give. Thank you for listening. Thank you.