Let's Rant And Rave About "Chatter"

Chatter, directed by Matthew Solomon, is a fun low-budget thriller, with a good, solid cast and enough suspense and ghostly shenanigans to hold your interest up until the (kind of abrupt) ending.

David Cole (Brady Smith) and his wife Laura (Sarena Khan) have had to move their relationship online via Skype chats since she is in London for work and he has just moved into their new apartment in Los Angeles alone. She’ll be done in just a few weeks and can then come and join him–after all, what could possibly happen in just a few weeks.

They spice things up with a little cyber fooling around, and they are watched online by stoic and creepy Martin Takagi ( Tohoru Masamune), who works for Homeland Security (really?) monitoring online activity. All of these scenes with Martin just watching the action are completely unnecessary and, in fact, take us right out of the drama unfolding on our screens, which is a shame because Masamune is a terrific actor.

He’s just in a thankless part. Maybe his character was supposed to be some kind of grounding thing, showing the audience the reality of the situation? Whatever the intent, these scenes are completely superfluous, and could easily be gone. We’ve gotten comfortable watching chat sessions for years now, we totally get it right away.

Speaking of chats, weird things are happening in the new apartment that we get glimpses of in the chat sessions: Dave hears a little girl crying all night, little items around the house are moved or missing, in the basement area, he finds a little doll, and the image of a little girl pops up behind him one night while he sleeps.

All of these events (and more, I don’t want to spoil things) build naturally and effectively, and the characters react to them in normal and logical ways. Dave starts questioning his sanity, and Laura tries to comfort him from thousands of miles away. You can really feel their frustration and fear as things fall apart around them. These two have to pretty much carry the movie, and they do a great job. It can’t be easy acting for a computer screen, but Smith and Khan deserve some major kudos for their work here.

Come to find out, Anna (the little girl?) used to live in that apartment, and died when she was only seven years old. At first we think it might be all her doing, but there’s also some weirdness regarding Dave’s ex, Alex (Laura Niles), who got him the new apartment. Why does her chat box pop up? Why is she so intent on getting back with Dave? Is that her lurking in the background?

The ending, while not completely original, is well-done and frightening, but cuts out a bit too quickly. I felt like I needed a tiny tag at the end to tie it all together (I’d be less vague, but I don’t want to give it away).

Matthew Solomon has done a terrific job writing and directing this little fright film (which is based on his short film “Anna”), and I will be very much looking forward to his next effort. I really enjoyed myself and I think you will too. Uncle Mike sez: check it out.

Click the movie’s website and Facebook below for info, as well as the trailer. Pleasant dreams!

http://www.followthechatter.com

https://www.facebook.com/ChatterMovie/

The film will be screening today in North Carolina at the Nevermore Film festival and then later in the month in Long Beach, California. Get your tickets below.

Nevermore Film Festival
Durham, NC
February 12 and 14, 2016
5:20pm and 8:20pm
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE