Reel Critics: Small screen looms in ‘Unfriended’

“Unfriended” delivers a sinister mystery in a groundbreaking new format that will be imitated many times over. Every scene takes place on the monitor of a laptop computer. The giant movie screen becomes the computer screen. All the action occurs as you would see it while using Skype or surfing the net.

It sounds like a pure gimmick. But in the hands of novice director Levan Gabriadze, it becomes a compelling structure. The crisp running time of 82 minutes is riveting and leaves no time for unnecessary scenes.

The film begins with a YouTube clip of a teenage girl committing suicide. A group of teenage pals quickly show up on the screen in their Skype camera personas. They text and joke in R-rated fashion. But they are soon joined by a faceless “friend” using the dead girl’s Skype account.

The menacing suspense that follows provides a major reset for this film category. Outstanding work by Shelley Hennig and other unknown actors drives the supernatural horror story. This picture blends the ideas of Alfred Hitchcock and Wes Craven with a little gore but tons of suspense. Definitely worth a look for fans of this genre.

—John Depko

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Both sides to these ‘Clouds’

“Clouds of Sils Maria” is a powerfully well-acted drama as surreal as its title. It’s named for a natural phenomenon near the Swiss town of Sils Maria, where an unusual cloud formation called the Maloja Snake can wind its way through the Alpine valley.

Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a famous film and stage actress, just arrived in Switzerland to accept an award on behalf of the playwright who made her a star in her first play, “Maloja Snake.”

Clad in Chanel, Maria is stunning — and stunned when a young director asks her to once again do “Snake” but this time in the role of a tragic older woman. A pretty young Lindsay Lohan-type (Chloë Grace Moretz) will now play Maria’s original part.

Maria has trouble accepting herself as an older woman. She still sees herself as the fresh beauty who first lit up the stage 20 years ago.

Her personal assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), is a fast-talking straight shooter who constantly challenges Maria to open up to the truths about herself and how they parallel the character in the play. As Val reads lines with Maria, it also seems like they are talking about their own relationship, which seems quite complicated.

Binoche is magnetic and Stewart is truly her match (she won the French César Award for Best Supporting Actress). Moretz is terrific as the pouty tabloid terror whose ambition is not unlike Maria’s.

Everything in this film is elusive but so beautifully done: to paraphrase Joni Mitchell, it’s “Clouds’” illusions I’ll recall, but really don’t know what it means at all.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.