Metal Life Review Of Cyberbullying Movie #horror

The directorial debut of Tara Subkoff, #horror, is an uncompromising look into the world of cyber bullying that reaps deadly consequences. While the genre may be horror, this movie is certainly no slasher flick. The movie centers around a group of mostly affluent junior high girls who are allowed to have a party at one of their parent’s homes, but are left unsupervised thanks to the responsible parent stepping out for the evening. Left to their own devices, the group of girls begin to show just how catty they can be, to the point of taking photos of each other and posting nasty comments and tagging each other on social media. One of the young girls, Cat, suffers from bouts of anger and depression after losing her mother the previous year, begins to get very verbally abusive towards the group and is asked to leave the home. When she leaves, she receives dozens of texts from the group of girls she just left telling her just how awful of a person she is and that she should kill herself. Between the texts, constant tagging in social media posts, and her inability to contact her father to come pick her up, Cat has a total mental breakdown in the woods and isn’t heard from again, not a wholly unlikely scenario in today’s cyber bullying culture.

Throughout the film, Tara highlights where society is really abandoning our kids in favor of fun phone apps and social media interaction so they can escape their own reality, at the cost of their children’s. There are so many emotional and intellectual layers to this movie that everything you see onscreen has meaning. During a recent interview, Tara even expressed that the backdrop, Connecticut in winter, was a character in and of itself. Through a series of unfortunate events lives are lost, but the bloodshed is minimal yet terribly poignant. Chloe Sevigny plays the role of the dysfunctional mom whose hosts the party, but steps out to attend an AA meeting, while drunk, to, as her character puts it, “help better herself” and has to deal with the consequences of her actions in the most horrific of ways, and she does a phenomenal job. This movie is certainly something to watch, and then reflect on. The movie not only highlights the effects of cyberbullying, but of inactive or detached parenting and the resentment and emotional consequences everyone suffers because of it. The writing is fantastic, the actors are incredible (several intense and high energy scenes were done off the cuff and come out brilliant), and the cinematography is amazing.

ABOUT #HORROR:

You’ve got followers… Cyberbullying goes offline during one deadly night. Based on a shocking true story, #HORROR follows a group of girls living in a suburban world of money and privilege. But when their obsession with a disturbing online game goes too far, virtual terror becomes all too real. Chloë Sevigny leads an ensemble cast that includes Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning, and Timothy Hutton in Tara Subkoff’s directorial debut.

Release Date: Friday, November 20^th (NY and LA / VOD)
Distributor: IFC Midnight
Director: Tara Subkoff
Written By: Tara Subkoff
Producers: Tara Subkoff, Oren Segal, Brendan Walsh, and Jason Ludman
Starring: Chloe Sevigny, Timothy Hutton, Natasha Lyonne, Balthazar Getty, Taryn Manning, Stella Schnabel, Sadie Seelert, Haley Murphy, Bridget McGarry, Blue Lindberg, Mina Sundwall, Emma Adler, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, and Lydia Hearst
Rating: Not Rated
TRT:  90 minutes

[Metal Life Editor’s Note: Many of us who live a metal life are treated as outcasts from society and sometimes we experience bullying, both physically and virtually. Metal Life does not condone any kind of bullying and we will continue to publish relevant content that points out how damaging bullying can be. If you are a victim of bullying, reach out for help. http://stopbullying.gov]

Here are some shots from the movie: