Horror Movie Review: No_Filter (2022)

No_Filter, written and directed by Michael Dupret, is another awkward and lazy example of filmmakers misunderstanding the influencer lifestyle and what drives so many to try to become one. Attempting to ‘say something’ about the danger of the internet and how ‘fake’ people can be in eye-rolling fashion, jamming in confusing supernatural elements, delivering jarring tone shifts, and little else. The ‘social media is bad and almost all you see is fake’ horror trope was long played out before this film came along.

It stars Hannah Mciver as Anna, who has recently found internet fame as an influencer and love its so much that her entire life now revolves around her phone. She, and her friends, are obsessed to the point where they (and their entire school) only talk in internet code. Likes, follows, hashtags, when they’re not taking pictures, making videos, or posting some inane rubbish constantly, they’re talking about taking pictures, making videos, or posting some inane rubbish. It is painful to watch and hear, characters so awful, that it does the actors no favours.

Which would be fine if this was the point. Except it’s not. This is how social media obsessed young adults talk and act, apparently. We’re also supposed to like Anna and her best friend, Lauren (Jasmine Daoud). It would be funny, if it wasn’t so serious, and No_Filter takes itself so seriously.

So, everyone wants to be a social media influencer, and it’s all about current trends. The latest? Scare challenges, which amount to nothing more than uploading a video to frighten viewers. A challenge that could get out of hand without any supernatural interference, and perhaps one that could have resulted in something more impactful. Alas, we have what we have, which is an entity that steps into the shoes of a person’s fake online identity and uses that in the real world to possess. Maybe. It’s actually quite a difficult story to follow.

It certainly doesn’t help that it’s impossible to be invested in it or the plight of Anna. No shade on Hannah Mciver, she’s a good actor, but this character is written so poorly. It seems as though the writing got twisted up trying to make her internet fame believable (it’s not) but keep her ‘real’. Instead of loving or hating her, most will just feel indifferent to her, which is not a good look for your main character. One who dominates the screen, as the second half of the film shifts in tone to focus mostly on her, ramps up the gore, and laughably, tries to create a tense atmosphere.

It doesn’t work, but very little does in this film. As a sub-genre of horror, the ‘social media is bad’ stuff needs to stop, and this film is all the proof anyone needs of that. There have been some decent entries with something worthwhile to say, but No_Filter is not one of them.