Antisocial
by Cody Calahan
Just a precaution this particular review may contain opinions about Facebook that not all people may agree with. That's because social media can be a hot button issue for some people and Antisocial is a horror film about social media. Get it? Get it? It's called Antisocial and it's a movie about social media. Now, you can't see this but I'm making a nudging motion with my elbow. Seriously though, I can't tell if this movie is serious or not, but I really hope it's not supposed to be serious.
Sam's boyfriend Dan breaks up with her over the popular social media website Facebook… er I mean The Social Redroom. Bad news, she's pregnant. Don't worry though, that story line doesn't go anywhere. Heartbroken, she decides to delete her Social Redroom account. However, she decides to make for the best and go to her friends' New Year's party. They proceed to party like it's 1999 and drink very irresponsibly. Overall, the night seems to be going well, until the zombies arrive but with a twist! The zombie virus isn't spread through the bite but instead using the popular not-Facebook-social-media-site. Everyone who has used The Social Redroom that day is now infected.
Like I said, I really hope that this movie is joking about its stance on social media. Honestly, it's not really that bad. I think it's blown way out of proportion. People take Facebook way more seriously than they should. There are two types of people who take Facebook too seriously: There are those who dedicate their lives to Facebook and those who spend their lives pretending not to care. I would say the filmmakers behind Antisocial are the former. The very obvious point this movie makes is that we dedicate our lives to social media leaving us as zombies in the real world. I heard a couple things that started infuriating me. One was basically, "How are you comfortable posting your private life all over the internet?" My response is: If you don't want your private life on the Internet don't post it, have some self-control. The other was along the lines of, "How do stay in touch with people?" "Oh, I just see them in real life." Yeah that's cool but how do you stay in touch with people you couldn't possibly otherwise? Yeah, you can call them but you can't possibly call everyone you know all the time. What I can do is send a message on Facebook and talk to them for ten minutes.
I've seen some improbable zombie outbreak scenarios, my personal favorite being Days of Darkness but this takes the cake. The zombies are made because of a tumor growing in the brain caused by subliminal messaging encoded into The Social Redroom. Then, the website controls them via tumor and turns all the other zombies into a hive mind. It also somehow prevents death and streams data directly to the website. Putting it simply, nothing about this movie is scientifically possible. Plausibility means nothing to me if the plot calls for it. In a movie about magical zombies because of a curse or something, I accept it. In a movie set in a real world, the plot has to be grounded in reality. At this point it's just a scare tactic used to make people fear social media.
If I could accurately compare this movie to any other movies I would say that it is a hybrid between Ringu, Diary of the Dead, and Night of the Living Dead. Visiting The Social Redroom is virtually a death sentence, much like watching the video tape in Ringu. The hallucinations that were experienced by those infected, while not similar to Ringu, were reminiscent of other Asian horror films like The Eye and Pulse. The ghosts or hive mind, whatever we saw in Antisocial, was clearly visually inspired by the spirits from those other movies. I saw similarities between this and Diary of the Dead because while the dead are coming back to life in both movies, everyone in the movie is more concerned with posting videos to the internet. I personally think that some people would actually take this route in reality. However, most people would probably be more focused on trying to survive the night than their Facebook account. Maybe I just have too much faith in humanity. Night of the Living Dead really makes its influence known in the final moments of the movie. I don't want to go into too much detail but if you're familiar with Night of the Living Dead, it initially mirrors that ending. It however takes that knowledge making you think you know what's going to happen but then takes a slight turn for a fresher ending. There are other references such as unnecessary window boarding and a relatively useless female protagonist for a majority of the movie.
The biggest criticism I have with this movie is that it didn't really feel complete. It introduces some story lines that are never really continued. Sam being pregnant is mentioned twice the entire movie and it doesn't develop any further. We also never learn of the fate of some other characters like Sam's boyfriend. He appears in the opening scene of the movie but we don't learn if he turns into a zombie or if he manages to survive. The entire movie is a setup for a sequel, at least that's what first came to mind. Turns out, I'm right. A sequel to Antisocial is currently in post-production and set to release next year. I guess in my opinion, this movie isn't the kind that deserves a sequel. What can Antisocial 2 say about the ill effects of social media that the first couldn't?
Overall, this wasn't a terrible movie. I mostly disagreed with the message that was being conveyed but that's personal opinion more than anything. While the plot is overall scientifically impossible it is in fact the most original origin story for a zombie movie. Unfortunately this movie ends a bit open and if you want to find out what happens next you have to wait till 2015 for Antisocial 2. Maybe the social message will be dropped and it will just be an entertaining zombie movie next time around. One can hope!
Billy Wayne Martin, HMS