Why the Next 'Unfriended' Movie Needs to Ditch the Laptops to Stay Relevant

The original Unfriended takes place pretty much entirely in a Skype conversation, and Unfriended: Dark Web sticks to that basic concept for the most part. But if the series wants to stay relevant it may have to move beyond those clunky laptops and its reliance on Skype.

This is a spoiler-free article, but you can read all about Unfriended: Dark Web spoilers here.

In an interview with the cast, Unfriended: Dark Web star Colin Woodell (Matias in the film) tells Inverse that if the BlumHouse horror franchise wants to keep going it may need move away from the concept that made it famous. After all, does anyone under the age of 25 still communicate this way?

“The third should step away from Skype,” Woodell says.” I think Skype is dwindling down. FaceTime is becoming a thing, but our phones primarily are what I use over computers. If there’s an innovative way to step away from computers and make it a cell phone thing that would be fascinating and even creepier for us Millenials.”

He makes a pretty good point. Skype might still be useful for video conference calls, but that’s about it. When the type of young people that typically get killed in these types of horror movies hang out online it’s definitely not through Skype.

Unfriended: Dark Web actually does a pretty decent job of making that very point. Matias and his friends may communicate over Skype while sitting in front of their computers, but, at the same time, he’s also chatting with his girlfriend over Facebook Messenger. At one point he even leaves his apartment but keeps the conversation going with his smartphone.

But in the next Unfriended movie (assuming there is one), BlumHouse will have to push the underlying concept even further to avoid looking totally outdated. Ditch the laptops, ditch Skype, and give us the world’s first FaceTime horror movie. Now that’s scary.

Unfriended: Dark Web is in theaters now.