The Fantasy Filmfest this year came up with some pretty impressive highlights from the Cannes program - Kaboom, Outrage and The Silent House among others. One film however stood out, both due to its inclusion given the Cannes reception and due to the decision to make it the Centerpiece of this year. This film is Hideo Nakata's CHATROOM - according to various people on twitter "the worst film ever to be shown at Cannes" or "the worst film (the user has) ever seen)".
Given that the film was an adaptation from a play by HUNGER-writer Enda Walsh (and the script was also written by him), directed by Hideo Nakata - the guy who brought us RING and DARK WATER - and starred a variety of promising up an coming actors, it was almost unimaginable that this was the worst film to ever be shown at Cannes, let alone the worst film ever made. But it was even more curious the film was shown as the Centerpiece (maybe due to all the previous bad mouthing that went on). And oh boy...
As the film opens, we are introduced both to a setting and to a set of characters. So first the setting:
Nakata has decided to show the internet a a corridor with various side-rooms - each of them a chat room of its own. The surprising thing however is that Nakata - or rather the script - leaves most possibilities of the setting unused. We don't really see much of it apart from the aforementioned chat rooms - some of them may be darker and more morbid than others, but the ideas aren't explored in a wider context. Most of the time our protagonists sit around in their own Chatroom, talking to each other about rather superficial things. And there, we are with the characters...
All of the actors are great actors, and they all act well - with one exception: Aaron Johnson is truly terrible once he dons his Chatroom persona. He is the one that sets up the Chatroom and the one who tries to manipulate all the other characters, sure - but does he have to overact as "Mr. Evil" all of the time?
So anyways, William (Johnson) sets up a Chatroom called "Chelsea Teens", and the above cast joins rather quickly (Hannah Murray, Daniel Kaluuya and Imogen Poots are by far the most memorable here). All the characters are likable and realistic, aside from our protagonist. As the teenagers talk with each other, we become accustomed to their everyday lives, their dreams and their problems. Nothing wrong with those, apart from the fact that some of those are rather superficial. But then, after a good 30 minutes, the film shed aside all of the cast to focus on the suicidal Jim. William realizes his weakness and for no apparent reason develops the idea to make the boy kill himself because... well, why exactly? We get to know that William was, or is, suicidal himself and the son of a J. K. Rowling-esque writer who focused her book on his older brother. And from this point on, one should turn off his brain and not think anymore.
The problem here is that for a great start, CHATROOM doesn't really come up with anything substantial, logical or remotely realistic. It does neither fully explore the ideas presented visually nor the characters, and rather sets off to tell a quite boring tale of manipulation and intrigue. The Chatroom-scenes soon border on being unintended hilarious (like two of the kids kissing each other IN A CHATROOM... what did they do, type :* :* ??), and William develops more and more into the plot vessel his parents have already become (with his caring quiet mother and his raving and aggressive father).
By the end of the film, I found myself pointing angrily at the screen, shouting silent curses at the scriptwriter and the producer. Because at its core, CHATROOM is a very good film. It is well directed, acted and paced. It is even entertaining if you menage to stop to think about how stupid some of the plot is. The problem is just that we don't see a whole lot of it's qualities. However, it certainly isn't the worst film ever shown at Cannes by far - that prize may go to L'ENFANT. It rather is a clumsy try to say something important and honest about todays youth. But let's be honest - in the times of Facebook, who needs a Chatroom anymore?
Rating - 5.5/10
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