Can’t Miss Gimmick in “Unseen” (Mostly) Hits the Mark

Horror films are now so difficult to create with smartphones.

Are you being chased by a faceless creature? Call the police and wait for them to arrive. “Yes, please follow my GPS signal before Freddy/Jason/Michael arrives … thank you!” That flashlight app is a great tool.

This is why many horror movies are set in the area. analog age, while others fall back on the smartphone’s greatest enemy – bad cell reception.

“Unseen,” The recent “Look for meThe modern smart phone is able to offer many things, including “,” We watch as a woman uses a stranger’s phone to video call her ex-boyfriend. You expect a wake lecture to stop the chase. It’s not perfect. “Unseen” This allows you to burn it in a short time.

Jolene Purdy portrays Sam, a down-on her luck gal who works at a Florida convenience store. Her boss is cruel and the customers are worse. She’s eager to get rid of her strange phone call and hang up quickly.

She doesn’t. Instead, she listens and learns from a woman that her ex boyfriend is stalking her. Sam needs her help.

Or else.

Emily (Midori Franz) is the other end of this line. She’s a med student who fell in love with Charlie, a control freak. And she may be paying the ultimate price. Emily lost her glasses after she fell from her ex’s remote cabin. Now she is practically blind without them.

Sam will be her eyes via videochat to help her find her way out of the woods.

Wow! “Unseen” Takes full advantage of the latest technology, warts included. Sam’s battery is running out, so she has to defend Emily’s health and save Emily’s.

#horror – HNN – UNSEEN starring Midori Francis, Jolene Purdy, Missi Pyle, Michael Patrick Lane – On Digital and On Demand March 7, 2023 and On MGM+ May 2023 – https://t.co/QJIiGPkwGw pic.twitter.com/qLsPUYk0iU

— Horrornews.net (@HorrorNewsNet) February 11, 2023

Sam and Emily can’t help but bond during the ordeal, arguably the best part of a lean script from Salvatore Cardoni and Brian Rawlins. Sam’s life is far from perfect, and Emily fears she’ll die with serious regrets about not appreciating her hard-working Ma.

Michael Patrick Lane is under-developed as the villainous Charlie, but his presence keeps “Unseen” tense from the opening sequence.

Far better is Missi Pyle, a certified scene stealer doing what she does best as Sam’s nightmarish customer. She’s rude, and entitled and just might stop Sam from saving Emily.

Pyle’s character epitomizes “Unseen’s” coal-black humor. It’s not always a perfect tonal choice, but director Yoko Okumura keeps the energy level high enough to keep everything in order. The director also makes clever use of split-screen visuals, a comic-book sensibility rooted in the 21st century yet connected to pulp stories of yore.

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The film’s woke bona fides are easy to spot. Pyle’s character is a rich, privileged white woman with fire power to spare (don’t ask). Charlie’s controlling nature is the patriarchy on full blast. And a few lines suggest woke is on the tip of the screenwriters’ tongues, like when Emily notes the teasing she endured over Mickey Rooney’s cartoonishly Asian “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” character.

Yes, because Gen Z types are very plugged into Rooney’s body of work.

“Unseen” never leans too far into those progressive bromides. The focus is the chase, the adventure and the legit bond between two souls who know they need each other to survive.

HiT or Miss: “Unseen” is sloppy, silly and sometimes teetering on woke. The bond between the key characters, and a terrific gimmick, keep everything right on track.