Friended To Death: Review
After having the worst day of his life, obnoxious LA meter maid, Michael Harris (Ryan Hansen), begins to question whether anyone really cares about him. Being a social media junkie, he concocts a scheme to fake his death online just to see which of his so-called ‘friends’ will show up at the funeral. Michael enlists his former colleague Emile (James Immekus) to help execute the plan, but to Emile’s increasing anxiety, Michael’s phony death backfires, escalating into a whirlwind of trouble. In the end, Michael must learn what true friendship really means in this ever isolating, internet age of ‘tweets’ and ‘status updates.’
EVERYONE does social media nowadays but it’s this film that really shines some light on what an addiction it could be but in a very comedic way. The starts off funny and really establishes who the Michael character really is. He’s a guy that speaks like people text (ex: BTDub, GTFO, WTF) and is so convinced that he’s extremely hip. That in itself was hilarious to me….yet very douchey. Hansen is so good at being so annoying (not to mention that hipster stand alone mustache) which was perfect for this film yet at the same time he plays it to a degree where you know that he’s not necessarily doing what he’s doing maliciously so you kind of feel bad for the character. Immekus plays the innocent and naive accomplice in this story and is really good at it. He gives a sense that Emile is just along for the ride but doesn’t approve of what’s going on yet really wants a friend too so all he says is “Well ok.”. The film takes on a subject matter that not many have before as far as I know and does it in a way that isn’t preaching at anyone but makes it a dark and silly story. Anybody that is into the social media scene will definitely like this film and find it amusing in one aspect or another. The performances were a little over the top but that’s what kept it from becoming too serious. This gets the Cinema Deviant seal of approval!!
