Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sasha Grey, Neil Maskell, Iván González
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 100 minutes
Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, OPEN WINDOWS is a sinister technological thriller preying on our fears surrounding privacy in a world dominated by technology. Taking a fresh twist on the found footage film, OPEN WINDOWS’ tale unfolds by emulating the screen of one man’s laptop, displaying videos, images, applications and video calls to tell its story.
When fansite administrator Nick (Elijah Wood) wins a date with his favourite actress Jill (Sasha Grey), he travels to Austin to meet her only to discover it’s been cancelled. Receiving a mysterious call from her manager Chord (Neil Maskell), Nick is offered a candid look into her life through her phone’s camera/microphone, with an anonymous stream going straight to his computer. Although uneasy at the invasion of privacy, Nick begins watching the unwitting star, with the scenario quickly escalating into a series of events that put both him and his celebrity crush in danger.
Much of OPEN WINDOWS’ success rests on whether the audience can follow the narrative twists-and-turns whilst stomaching its visual gimmick for a full 100 minutes; unfortunately the film doesn’t make either easy. Although an interesting concept, the movie suffers from the novelty, quickly becoming jarring for the viewer as well as limiting the impact of any action and distancing them from the characters. The plot also seems to suffer, seemingly losing plausibility and confusing itself as it progresses whilst offering little real explanation for the main antagonist’s motivations.
The films cast perform reasonably well despite a clunky script, with its overuse of ‘Damn It!’ reminiscent of the famed 24 drinking game standing out. Whilst Grey pulls off the moody Hollywood diva stereotype and Maskell is suitably menacing, it’s predictably Woods who keeps the film on course, evoking a degree of empathy for the character despite his dubious decisions.
Unfortunately though, it’s not enough to make up for the films shortcomings and despite its interesting concept, OPEN WINDOWS fails to deliver on its promising premise, leaving viewers wishing they had logged out earlier.
[usr=2] OPEN WINDOWS is available on DVD on April 20th.
