Dark web, big screen: be afraid of the internet in these three new films

It might feel antiquated and technophobic to think of the Internet as a new, untrustworthy technology – but modern filmmakers have cottoned on to the undeniably uncomfortable appeal when telling stories. The Internet has a well-known dark side, some kind of terrifying alternate universe where rules and ethics don’t apply. This month, three films explore these more frightening aspects of cyber-space.

Unfriended: Dark Web (out now)

A standalone sequel to the 2015 chilling Skype-horror from Blumhouse, Unfriended: Dark Web involves a teenager, Matias, stealing a used laptop from a lost-and-found. It’s filled with hidden files, all relating to the 'Dark Web' (a hub of horrific websites and videos). During their ritual game-night on Skype, Matias and his friends explore these dubious files. But they soon realise that their every move is being watched by the laptop’s previous owner, determined to protect the Dark Web.

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Slender Man (24^th August)

The Slenderman was birthed in 2009 as a Photoshop entry for an online forum, which spawned countless horror stories with that character in mind. Since then, he’s become a cyber-legend, the Internet’s first bogeyman: a tall figure with no face, wearing a suit, with the ability to sprout tendrils and lure children. The legend gained mainstream attention in 2014, after two teenage girls from Wisconsin attempted to murder their friend to appease Slenderman (the subject of the 2016 HBO documentary Beware the Slenderman). Now, Sony has given the character his own horror movie, Slender Man – following the attempt of three teenage girls to track their missing friend after finding images of Slenderman on her laptop.

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Searching (31^st August)

Aneesh Chagantry’s Sundance winner Searching applies and expands the Skype concept to a detective thriller. Told almost completely via the cameras on laptops and smartphones, the film centres on David (John Cho) whose daughter suddenly goes missing. In an effort to find her, he delves into her laptop to uncover clues that explain her disappearance – but he doesn’t like what he finds in this unfamiliar cyberscape.