There are almost no real shocks or scares to rattle you out of the stupor that inevitably develops from observing someone else fiddle with their laptop for much of the running time.
Cowriter (with Lauren Thompson)/director Zachary Donohue puts a new spin on the 'found footage' genre with this incredibly clever and creepy film that delves into our worst online fears.
It's mean-spirted, vicious and twistedly entertaining, the kind of film that will make you think twice about being left alone and vulnerable in front of your laptop.
taps into contemporary anxieties about both the very public nature - and anonymity - of the lives that we lead online, building towards a sadistic, cynical ending
The results are a paranoid thrill ride into twenty-first century manipulation and exploitation, a pseudo snuff film whose very making we witness, and whose impact comes from our awareness of its chilling plausibility.
The Den's commitment to its presentational conceit leads to a number of implausible scenarios, but what's more disheartening is the gore-fest it turns into once the curtain is thrown back on the mystery propelling both Elizabeth and the narrative.
