Chatroom (2010)
3/10
Chatroom
9 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I knew this film was meant to something scary, the title made it obvious would the story would involve, but I had low expectations, because it was rated low by critics, but I was going to give it a chance, directed by Hideo Nakata (Ring, Dark Water). Basically bored teenagers Jim (Matthew Beard), Eva (Imogen Poots), Emily (Game of Thrones' Hannah Murray) and Mo (Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya) meet William (Kick-Ass's Aaron Taylor-Johnson) online. William's charisma seduces them, but he is not what he seems, he is calculating, manipulative and does not have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and has no idea how dangerous his new friend William really is, Jim confesses he is on anti-depressants, William now knows he has found a victim, he vows to help Jim come of his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line in their meetings and in the chatroom William creates online. Eva and Mo realise that William is not offering friendly advice, he is playing a deadly game, but it has already begun, and Jim is set on the path of self- destruction and going to do the unthinkable. Eva, Emily and Mo do their best to save Jim, but William chases them across the internet in a game of cat and mouse, shutting down their systems and cutting them off from his victim. William and Jim come face to face in blur between fantasy and reality on the underground, without online security everything has become real, it is a race against time for Jim to be saved, and to stop William, someone will meet their fate. Also starring Megan Dodds as Grace, Game of Thrones' Michelle Fairley as Rosie, The Mimic's Jacob Anderson as Si, Ophelia Lovibond as Charlotte and Richard Madden as Ripley. Taylor-Johnson is alright as the sulky teenage rebel who hates his parents and everyone, the supporting cast of up-and-coming mostly unknowns do okay but overact often, the plot could have been clever, an intimate chatroom created to lure in the most vulnerable people to punish or kill them, but it is done in a predictably dull way, it only has small moments of really dramatic stuff, a disappointing British thriller. Adequate!
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