Unknown User: Dark Web
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Unknown User: Dark Web |
| Original title | Unfriended: Dark Web |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stephen Susco |
| script | Stephen Susco |
| production |
Timur Bekmambetov , Jason Blum |
| camera | Kevin Stewart |
| cut | Andrew Wesman |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
|
← Predecessor |
|
Unknown User: Dark Web (Original title: Unfriended: Dark Web ) is an American horror film from 2018 . The film is an independent sequel to Unknown User from 2014. Stephen Susco , who made his directorial debut with this film, was responsible for the script and direction .
The film premiered on March 9, 2018 at SXSW . The film was released in cinemas on July 20, 2018 in the USA and on December 6, 2018 in Germany .
action
The programmer Matias illegally takes from the lost property from an internet café a laptop that does not belong to him. He needs this powerful computer to develop American Sign Language translation software that will help him communicate better with his deaf friend Amaya. He starts a group call over Skype with his friends: the conspiracy theorist AJ, the computer nerd Damon, the DJane Lexx and the newly engaged lesbian couple Serena and Nari. He has to keep annoyed that the computer crashes unexpectedly. Matias quickly finds out that the previous owner of the laptop, who was still logged in on Facebook as Norah C. IV , saved a large number of videos on the device. While browsing through the files, Matias and his friends, with whom he shares his screen, see disturbing images of young women being kidnapped and tortured. There is also an application called The River on the computer . After Matias starts the program, Damon discovers that it is a chat room in the darknet , a hidden part of the Internet. All users of the chat room have the username Charon with an employed number and Damon discovers that Norah C. IV is also just an anagram for Charon IV . Matias is on the computer also access to a crypto currency -Wallet, in the Bitcoin worth over 10 million US dollars are included. The group concludes that they have ended up in some kind of criminal network where videos are exchanged for money.
As Matias and his friends are discussing how to deal with this information, he suddenly receives a video call from Amaya. On the screen he sees Amaya's girlfriend sitting in front of the webcam and being knocked down from behind by a person in a hoodie. The stranger introduces himself as Charon IV and threatens Matias that he will kill Amaya if he does not get his laptop back immediately or if one of them leaves the group chat. Matias arranges with him that Amaya, who is currently showering, should come to him and the laptop should be replaced there. As security, however, Matias transfers the Bitcoin to his own wallet against the will of the stranger. Shortly afterwards, he is suddenly contacted in the river by various Charons who ask him why he transferred the money and now it seems to see through that Matias is not Charon IV.
The laptop crashes again. When the device restarts, Lexx is missing in the Skype chat, instead several Charons are now connected. Charon I sends a link to the group under which a cut shows the others that the Charons found Lexx's identity. The cut ends with a video recording in which Lexx is pushed from the roof of their building by a person. Nari immediately goes to Amaya's subway stop, where she wants to intercept her and accompany her to Matias.
Meanwhile, Charon I sends another video to the group. This time the clip shows how the strangers cut different shots of AJ together as if he were making a bomb threat. You dial the emergency number and play the audio file , which means that after a few minutes the police are at the door of AJ. As AJ is about to open the door, the Charon plays the sound of a loading gun on AJ's stereo. The police standing in front of the door immediately open fire and perforate AJ. Next, the Charons will show Serena two different live recordings synchronously. She sees Nari waiting for Amaya at the subway station and her mother, who is currently tied to life support in the hospital. To do this, Serena receives the prompt "Choose" and a timer runs down. When Serena has still not made a decision when the timer reaches the end, she sees her mother's heart rate monitor suddenly show a zero line . She also has to watch Nari being pushed by a masked person on the platform in front of the arriving train. In the end, Serena herself is killed by an intruder in her home.
Matias gives Damon remote desktop control of the laptop and sets off to find Amaya. Meanwhile, Damon communicates with the Charons. He sees a Charon locking one of the kidnapped girls in Matias' closet. The Charons show Damon that they were all just part of an elaborate hackers plan to shift all of their crimes onto them. The film concludes with a clip showing how the hackers use an image editing program to insert Matias' face into a picture of a kidnapper. Shortly thereafter, Damon is hanged in his room by a Charon. On the laptop, a Charon writes a note that makes the other's hanging and deaths look like suicide due to guilt for their actions.
Matias receives a call from Amaya asking where he is. Matias can follow on her smartphone how the Charons falsified his messages to Amaya using his own software and lured her to another location. He has to watch on his cell phone as Amaya is overwhelmed by a Charon. Finally, the hackers start a survey among themselves whether they should let Matias live. Within seconds, more than 20,000 people take part in the survey, but only a fraction of which is true for Matias' survival. After completing the survey, Matias is run over by a van . Different Charons now appear in the various surveillance cameras and show their joy that their plan has succeeded.
reception
The first reviews after the SXSW screening were mostly positive. The critic of Slashfilm awarded 7 out of 10 points and called the film a “clever further development” of the first part. Indiewire awarded a B grade. The film is no longer as innovative as its predecessor, but the subject is still attractive enough. Dreadcentral gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called the film “relentlessly effective”.
Web links
- Unknown User: Dark Web in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Unknown User: Dark Web . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF).
- ^ A b Jacob Hall: 'Unfriended: Dark Web' is a Cruel and Clever Evolution of the First Film SXSW . In: slashfilm.com, accessed March 10, 2018.
- ↑ Unknown User: Dark Web at Universal Pictures Germany, accessed October 27, 2018.
- ↑ Eric Kohn: 'Unfriended: Dark Web' Review: Another Blumhouse Desktop Thriller, and the Internet Is Still Pretty Evil - SXSW 2018 . In: indiewire.com, accessed March 10, 2018.
- ↑ Jonathan Barkan: SXSW 2018: Unfriended: Dark Web Review - A Suspenseful Descent Into Internet Terror . In: dreadcentral.com, accessed March 10, 2018.