Sunday 24 October 2010

Chatroom




Cast: Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard, Hannah Murray, Megan Dodds, Michelle Fairley
Director: Hideo Nakata

William (Johnson) sets up a chatroom on a whim, and a group of teenagers join connected because they all live in London's Chelsea.  They are from a wide social background but connect during their first meeting and commit to meeting regularly.
As the chatroom founder and somewhat of a psycho, William uses his influence to manipulate and control his members causing destruction to their family lives, and own emotionally vulnerable positions.  The film develops through a mixture of reality and the virtual world of the 'Chatroom'.  There are elements of romance, friendship, and a close look at the dark corners of the internet with some shady characters appearing.  The central point of the film is a determination from William to lead Jim to suicide and the acting of Johnson and Beard is great around this.
It's a dramatic and edgy film which looks at a resource so familiar to all of us - and the strong acting is a credit a relatively young cast.