MOVIE REVIEW: DON’T LOG OFF

This film is a thriller set during the period of the Covid lockdowns in California. Separated by quarantine conditions, a tight knit group of friends plan a virtual surprise birthday party for one of their friends only for her to momentarily leave the call and never reappear, leaving them pondering what has happened and to finally take action in order to discover what has become of her.

As sets for a found footage movie goes this is one of the most plausible I’ve seen. Oftentimes you feel like the characters are constantly recording the events of the film for no practical reason which offsets the suspension of disbelief. In this case, however, the set up works as quarantine and the virtual party serves as an excellent motivation and continues to do so once things go away. It also allows up to be introduced to the players one by one in a direct but limited fashion. We have some horror film archetypes here with the good girl, the annoying guy, the lovely couple, the cynical girl, and the good guy butch of twenty somethings, Quarantine allows for isolation without the group having to seclude themselves in a remote location somewhere which is also refreshing.

Found footage has been used in every conceivable way by this time but the film manages to build some tension and suspense even if it doesn’t do anything new. There are only so many ways to use a stationary computer to frame a shot or with a cellphone mostly aimed at the face of the user. Still one element I liked that got the mystery ball rolling was discovering that the missing birthday girl was using a background in her video. There was some deception and misdirection going on amongst these friends for various reasons. And for a while you are left wondering if it’s anything nefarious. You are made aware in the prologue scene that there is a serial killer on the loose but for the friends this is background noise in the infodump of the modern world until the mystery needs to be solved and they really start thinking things out.

Another thing I enjoyed is that when the chips are down these friends are ready to take action for the sake of one of their own when they can’t convince the police something is awry. While initially they blunder as one would expect they demonstrate some impressive deductive skills and talents, some of which are foreshadowed, to help them in their quest to save the birthday girl. However it is here, when things start picking up that the film starts to fall apart a bit.

The divide between those who believe something is wrong and those who don’t feels a little too trope-esque for me. It’s very plot convenient even at a point where it should be 100% evident. When the friends know for a fact that people are in danger and they leave their dwellings to pursue the matter they always go it alone, and none of them are armed. Now I know this is California so your Second Amendment rights are practically non-existent but no one carries a hammer or a big kitchen knife even when it’s discovered they are dealing with a killer. That just breaks all credulity. In the end, the good girl of the group even fails to wait for the police and chooses to confront the antagonist of the film for…reasons? An act that completely ruins the end of the film. It no longer feels earned but instead plot convenient once more.

SCORE:
3 out of 5

DON’T LOG OFF stars Ariel Winter (Modern Family), Brielle Barbusca (Scandal, Modern Family), Luke Benward (Criminal Minds, Dumplin’), Sterling Beaumon (Law & Order True Crime, The Killing), Jack Griffo (The Thundermans Return, Alexa & Katie), Kara Royster (Pretty Little Liars, Supernatural), Ashley Argota (All American, The Fosters), and Khylin Rhambo (47 Meters Down: Uncaged, Teen Wolf). Producers include Winter, Benward, Beaumon, Austin Seltzer (The Stranger), Nicole Smolen (Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction), and Todd Slater (Succubus, Avenue of the Giants, Whiteout) from Brick Lane Entertainment.