Unfriended: Dark Web
Directed by Stephen Susco
- horror
The story
When a 20-something finds a cache of hidden files on his new laptop, he and his friends are unwittingly thrust into the depths of the dark web. They soon discover someone has been watching their every move and will go to unimaginable lengths to protect the dark web.
What it’s like
Screen-filling desktop windows, chat bubbles and cursor movements in cold blue monitor glow, all shot as a found-footage stream of laptop and webcam feeds in a single bedroom-and-apartment logic. The palette is flat and digital: pale white UI panels, harsh blue-white light from screens, dim rooms lit only by laptops and phones, with the occasional grainy compression smear when a video call stutters. Sound is mostly notification pings, keyboard clatter, tinny speakers and sudden jolts of sharp music cues that punch through the quiet. Its vibe is anxious, claustrophobic and sleek-cold, a sit-forward tension piece to watch late at night with the lights off, or a second-screen-adjacent thriller for people who like horror that lives inside everyday software. Pacing is brisk and escalating, with the friend group's dynamics fraying under pressure, and the emotional register is panicked and grim rather than gentle, with a young man's guilt and friendships under strain. Intensity is high: frequent frightening images, implied and on-screen violence with some graphic moments, and disturbing cruelty; not gentle, and not suitable for anyone seeking calm. For viewers who enjoy cyber-paranoia, screen-only horror, and tense found-footage shocks.
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