Do Not Reply (Movie Review)

PLOT: When a teenage girl decides to go out with a young man she meets online, she finds herself victim to a kidnapping. While being held captive, she comes to the realization that she isn't the only one to fall for his creepy online charms.

REVIEW: Horror has always been an effective way to present an idea as a metaphor for real life tragedy. Sometimes it can be a smart presentation designed to explore our deepest, darkest fears, all the while giving audiences a safety net. It can be a healthy way to deal with all the terrible things going on in life and still have a good scare all at once. One common theme that we are seeing more and more of in genre is the dangers of meeting strangers online with the help of modern dating apps. One such feature is the indie thriller DO NOT REPLY. The film stars Jackson Rathbone (TWILIGHT) as an obsessed psychopath who collects young girls he meets in chatrooms after convincing them he’s just another lonely teenager. Spoiler alert… He’s not.

Chelsea (Amanda Arcuri) is a pretty teenager, but she is slightly awkward and not as popular as her older sister Kristina (Savannah Kennick). Nor does she have the fearlessness of her best friend Mia (Ivon Millan) who continues to flake on her in order to spend time with her new boyfriend Dylan (Curran Walters). After a terrible double date with a jerk of a guy named Seth (Christian Hutcherson), she decides to arrange a date with a dude that she met online named “Brad.” Immediately after the two meet at a Halloween party, she discovers that Brad (Rathbone) isn’t quite the charmer she originally thought. You see, this young man has a weird obsession with his sister Sadie (Nikki Leigh). This madman tricks women he meets online, and then kidnaps them and forces them to dress and act like his sibling.

This modern day warning to young women looking for an online relationship is written and directed by Daniel and Walter Woltosz. And frankly it’s an intriguing idea, as there are likely many of you that perhaps use Tinder and such for the occasional hook up. Unfortunately, what’s missing here is any sort of scare or suspense and tension. This low budget parable meanders along as we witness Chelsea’s kidnapping, and what should be a terrifying situation in which she finds herself in. Once she is taken, we discover that she isn’t the only one of Brad’s victims. Yet instead of creating a horrific and shocking genre flick, her story just feels like a way too cheap movie of the week about the dangers of online dating.

Jackson Rathbone is a talented actor. In fact, I’ve been impressed with a few of his performances in films like DREAD, but he’s just not that threatening here. Half the time his character is wearing this massive virtual reality helmet while fantasizing about his sister Sadie, among other things. Ironically, his character is slightly more interesting the less  we know about him. He’s perhaps the most sinister when it’s just his voice on the phone planning a meet up. Once his reasons and purpose are revealed, he comes across as more pathetic and sad than dangerous. And he’s also not terribly sharp considering he uses his real name when trying to pick-up his victims. It was very difficult to truly believe that these young girls – Chelsea isn’t the only one – are so willing to play a part in his twisted game. Even our leading lady seems to give up a little too easily early on and accept an unnecessary fate.

The be fair, the filmmakers attempt to raise the stakes and give the audience a bit of thrill. However, the single location, the overwrought script and the lack of intensity just come off as a cheap teen thriller. While they do have a couple of interesting sequences, it never feels fully fleshed out. It’s not necessarily a bad film, but the lack of budget presents a few challenges that they can’t fully compensate for. Some of the editing choices are a bit sudden and this doesn't help the pacing or energy, and while the performances are mostly decent, none of the characters are all that compelling. However, if you want to yell at a horror flick, you can scream pick up a damn vase or something and hope somebody just smashes this weirdos’ head in.

When the final sequence arrives, the filmmakers' actually manage to offer us a bit of a payoff. Finally, the action kicks in and makes for a decent last act. Yet it’s a bit too late to really make this worth a recommendation. Again, DO NOT REPLY is not necessarily a terrible film, it’s just not a very memorable one. Even still, there is a good idea here, and they do manage to offer up an intriguing concept about the dangers of dating apps. Perhaps if this happens to come on Netflix and you’ve got nothing else to watch, you may find some entertainment in this independent chiller.