#Like Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysOfHorror
content warning: death by suicide, grieving, exploitation, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, foul language
Editorial Note: #Like is a horror film about cyberbullying. The actions of the villain lead to death by suicide, which is their intent. Sexual assault and rape are discussed. Be safe.
It’s been year since Amelia’s death by suicide. Rosie, her sister, and Melissa, her mother, are still grieving. Rosie becomes obsessed with identifying the cyberstalker who harassed her sister until her death. Then she discovers not just the depth of this person’s obsession but their attempts to do the same thing to other young girls.
#Like is a horror film about grief, obsession, and revenge from writer/director Sarah Pirozek. The story is initially told from the perspective of the two sisters. Rosie researches her sister’s online presence to search for clues, while Amelia’s old online videos and social media posts tell her own story. It’s an interesting approach that gives the victim agency in her own story.
Pirozek leans into the inescapable influence of the internet on teenager’s lives. Melissa can escape for a bit by going to work, but Rosie is constantly surrounded by social media. Her and her friends don’t really talk in person. They reach out to each other over their phones and laptops. They’re all more comfortable with the internet, but Rosie’s attempts to find justice for her sister make her live on the internet. She eventually starts trying to piece whatever research she found online into a real world search for answers. Everything she looks at connects to her online investigation and nothing outside of that digital space matters anymore.
#Like is not a pleasant horror film to watch. Rosie’s research leads her to discuss some horrific crimes and statistics with her friends. At first, it’s to possibly get help. Maybe someone else knows something, or can help her track Amelia’s abuser online. When that doesn’t work, it pushes her to take what she’s learned and investigate in person.
The person she identifies as the cyberstalker is a total creep. He’s so confident in his ability to remain anonymous that he acts on some of his impulses in person. What you see him do will make you uncomfortable even if it wasn’t in the context of this story. This is what leads Rosie to act, luring the man to the bomb shelter near her family’s house, knocking him out, and locking him away. If the police won’t act for justice, Rosie will do it herself.
This film is dark. A film doesn't need to be graphic or bloody or gory to feel extreme. The subject matter in #Like is extreme. This is not a particularly enjoyable horror film to experience. Sarah Pirozek has a strong eye for visual storytelling and a clear vision for what she wants to say with this film. It just pushes so hard that it becomes difficult to watch. That is the point. You will feel uncomfortable. You will become mad or upset or just sad about what you see. It is undeniably a horror film, but not one with an easy to access sense of catharsis.
#Like is streaming on Shudder.
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