Hello again my fellow spooky fanatics! I am back with another film review and this one is a really interesting piece. This time we’ll be diving into a film by Ryan Justice titled FOLLOWERS and it really left me thinking about the current state of society and here’s why!

“In this social commentary, two internet celebrities celebrate their 1 year anniversary via a camping trip while two other bloggers are making a documentary of the dangers of social media. Their paths cross and things take a hard left turn.” 

The film starts out by laying out the foundation of the film and the characters. This film is almost entirely driven by the two primary characters, Brooke, played by Amanda Delaney, and Caleb, played by Justin Maina.

I must say I absolutely hated these characters – they were shitty, awful people and you can tell that the actors nailed the writers intentions with their portrayals of famous internet bloggers obsessed with their ‘likes’ and ‘followers’. They come across as totally vain and self involved.

On the flip side, the other two primary characters are Nick, played by Nishant Gogna, and Jake, played by Sean Michael Gloria, who were actually just as awful as the social media couple. I assume that was entirely intentional in the writing considering their exploitative personalities and intentions. You don’t actually meet these two until about roughly mid-way through the film, which actually pans out in a really clever plot transition.

Having read a bit about this film prior to watching, I knew a bit about what I was in for but not at the proper level of anticipation required for this twisted journey through the day of these unfortunate souls. As I mentioned, the plot transitions away from the primary focus being on Brooke and Caleb to peering into the process of Nick and Jake tracking down this social media couple to film a documentary on the dangers of social media. Their intent is to gather as much information about the couple and track them down or essentially ‘hunt’ them and give them a good scare while warning them of how dangerous it is to give out your information online, which doesn’t end up the way they were exactly planning it.

There is a reveal that Jake may have scarier intentions in terms of frightening the couple. This actually creates a short lived conflict between Jake and Nick but ends quickly due to an extreme plot changeover.

In terms of the climax, that was absolutely bonkers. There’s a series of events that take place after the filmmakers confront Brooke and Caleb, and it’s nothing that I was anticipating. The film goes from a thrill ride to a fight for life as the light of the antagonist shifts over to something else (that I will not disclose). However, know that it will make you put your foot in your mouth and probably shout WHAT THE HELL at the screen you’re currently viewing it on.

Wrapping up this review, I think the main reason I really like this film was because it falls into that category of being a social thriller while also a commentary on today’s current state of society. Everything is literally tech-driven, I mean, you’re reading this on the internet RIGHT NOW! The fact that releasing too much information on social media can result in having your information stolen is scary enough to think about.

Now it’s time to think about the fact that this information can be used to find, stalk, and murder you. Keep this in mind when creating an account through the “next big social media platform” or even, creating a new social media account.

FOLLOWERS is now available to watch on Digital HD and VOD.

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Devin March

Co-Host at GoreLords Podcast

Devin is a contributing writer for Nightmarish Conjurings and one of the three Co-hosts of the GoreLords Podcast. In his spare time (when it exists) he's usually cuddled up to his wife binge-watching a TV series, checking out new indie horror films or more recently playing Nintendo Switch. Devin is a huge fan of horror and macabre and it shows in his household. There is a room in his house dedicated to VHS tapes, Disneyland, Vintage Halloween and 80's horror.

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