A 2010 film directed by Hideo Nakata, the same guy who made The Ring and Dark Water.
Five teenagers meet online and become friends. However, several of them have mental problems... and mixing these people with each other is like mixing nitro and glycerine...
Most of the story takes place in a metaphorical cyberspace: Online chatrooms are represented by surreal physical rooms where the characters physically sit and talk with each other. When the chatrooms are seen from the outside, however, it is clear that they are regular text-based chatrooms (with some twodimensional graphical decorations), not a threedimensional cyberspace. The real-live versions of the characters are seen chatting on regular laptops and iPhones.
The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as William, Imogen Poots as Eva, Matthew Beard as Jim, Hannah Murray as Emily, and Daniel Kaluuya as Mo.
Has examples of:
- Date My Avatar: The female lead starts falling for the male lead, based only on how he has presented himself online. The reality is far darker than she is willing to see.
- Driven to Suicide: Several background characters watched by the main characters. Whether or not main characters will also end up like this is a major part of the plot.
- Rule of Symbolism: Most of the story takes place in locations that do not exist nor are experienced by the characters. The audience is shown literal rooms as metaphorical representations of online chatrooms.
- What You Are in the Dark: Specifically when you are anonymous online.
