Friend Request

Horror comes from Facebook in German director Simon Verhoeven's first horror feature, which plays hell with social media and school peer pressure. When popular student Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) kindly accepts the friend request from brooding emo weirdy Marina (Lisl Ahlers), her friends begin to die in mysteriously awful ways. And even when Marina kills herself, she's not quite as gone as Laura's dead friends may have wished. Like Unfriended before it, Friend Request pivots on the harassment and intrusion social media can have on an ordinary life. Although the direction isn't strong, with jump cuts and scare shots generously used, the art department amp up truly icky visuals to explore Marina's madness. Debnam-Carey acquits herself well, while Ahlers's performance could serve as her audition for a remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not a great film, but maybe a fun date film.