It’s been five years since we were all holed up in our houses with our pantries stocked with canned goods, rice and red beans. You’d have thought the pandemic would have made us lose weight. The pickings were slim.
The same goes for movies, studios canceled their release dates, productions halted and as a result streaming channels and VOD entered the chat.
Directors Brandon Baer and Garrett Baer have set their new screen life thriller Don’t Log Off during that time because the story wouldn’t work otherwise. But surprise! They have put together a solid thriller which isn’t as great as the other COVID live-footage chiller, Host, but it will keep you interested for about 90 solid minutes.
But before I go into why, I should warn you, to enjoy this film, forget what you know about police procedures. This film is pure fantasy, and would have you believe wellness checks don’t exist and cops don’t take 911 calls seriously especially when a witness tells them they’ve just seen someone attacked. It must have been a hard hurdle for the writers to overcome; this movie would have ended 15 minutes in if they had been realistic in their storytelling.
But again, just forget all about that because Don’t Log Off offers up some great surprises and a truly suspenseful runtime.
Don’t Log Off follows a group of friends who thanks to COVID have to do an online birthday party for their friend, Sam, via a chat video app.
When she walks off to answer the door and doesn’t return for a long time, her friends start to worry. Since they all live so close together, a few drive to her apartment to check things out. Since this is screen life, they use their cellphones to livestream their progress. All is not well and what some think is a cruel prank at first, is actually more sinister.
In the vain of films like Searching and Missing, Don’t Log Off offers its viewers a mystery. Who is stalking this group of friends and why?
The Baer brothers got extremely lucky with their casting choices. This could have been an ad-lib disaster if that part wasn’t on point. Screen life films need their actors to follow story prompts but they also need to act natural like they’re having normal conversations. Everyone here does an excellent job and you believe the stream is real. If I had to pick one person who kind of goes overboard, it’s Luke Benward as Adam, but even that is an aspect of his character.
Every single actor who is a part of the video conference is superb. Mark my words, each and everyone of these individuals are going on to greater things. Most notable are Kara Royster as Katy the level headed but stressed friend and Ariel Winter as Annie, the impatient looker who’s fearless but impulsive.
Don’t Log Off contains a fresh batch of Hollywood talent and it’s a privilege to discover them.
The film may be fun, but it’s hardly perfect. The cops situation is a blaring misstep, and the choices the characters make feel unrealistic and stale. But damn, is it suspenseful.
The reveal is a bit ho-hum and honestly confusing, but to reiterate, watching this much talent putting their all into a low budget independent horror movie is astonishing.
You shouldn’t go into Don’t Log Off expecting anything original, but the pacing, the directing and the powerhouse cast is well worth the rental price.
If you want to watch Don’t Log Off, click HERE to see where.
