More than Tarantino, Appofeniacs is reminiscent of Doug Liman’s Go; the characters are primarily 20-something cosplaying hipsters instead of lifelong gangsters or the criminally adjacent. The quick, snappy banter works as intended in some instances, while it falters in others. For every sharp barb and witticism, just as many are fumbled, playing like an actor reading lines rather than something an actual human would naturally say. It probably sounds good in the script, but it doesn’t always translate.
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The overlapping, intertwining storylines present another scenario where sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In some instances the interconnectivity flows organically, while in others it is pure coincidence that exists solely for narrative convenience with no causal or even plausible connection. The first and third acts are where the film functions best, though it devolves and drags in the middle portion, cramming too many threads into an overstuffed 90 minutes.
The opening section revolves around a group of friends, including blue-haired manic pixie Poppy (Simran Jehani), her husband Banks (Michael Abbott Jr.), and Texas Tim (Will Brandt), Poppy’s rideshare driver who is going to fuck her while Banks watches. That’s just how they get down. This section is solid. It moves at a propulsive clip that allows you to gloss over some of the ups and downs in both the dialogue and the acting, and so you don’t care that the characters aren’t particularly intriguing or engaging. (People don’t have to be likeable, but they sure as hell need to be interesting.) A series of escalating bad choices, personal conflicts, and simmering tensions explode into one hell of a violent night, complete with a handful of wild, gory effects. All of this, it turns out, kicked off due to a series of AI videos strategically distributed to sow discord.
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Which brings us to section two. Here the focus is generally on Duke (Aaron Holiday), the aforementioned terminally-online asshole, who, in one of the movie’s many forced quirks and foibles, has a band aid on his face for no other reason than to drop an obvious Nelly joke. (It’s actually pretty funny, even though it’s obvious.) His ire falls on Clinto Binto (Sean Gunn), a superstar maker of elaborate cosplay outfits, and Lazzy (Paige Searcy), a bystander who happens to overhear Duke’s soccer-mom-on-Nextdoor-style rant about tip screens at a coffee shop. In a petty, butt-hurt tantrum, he makes deepfake videos designed to ruin their lives. Which happens. And the momentum tanks. Yes, Duke is supposed to be tedious and exhausting, but it’s maybe too effective because it’s a slog to get through. Except for the few moments we get to spend with Jermaine Fowler’s Cedrick, a looming presence of low-key terror. I’d watch a whole movie of just him.
Things fortunately pick up as we reach the climax. All the dubious connections and teetering building blocks are in place and the film can finally let loose and get to the good stuff. There’s a flamethrower, exploding appendages, a home invasion, chaos and mayhem of many varieties, and buckets upon buckets of blood. It may not entirely make up for the preceding dreariness, but it is an unhinged blast, and if Paige Searcy becomes the next big scream queen, we can do way worse. This is why you wait through everything else, and it doesn’t disappoint.
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Appofeniacs wants to say something about how we use and misuse this emerging technology, cancel culture, the way we exist online, and more, but never offers much in the way of insight or examination. Chris Marrs Piliero clearly has a strong handle on the technical side; this is a fantastic looking movie full of unique, arresting imagery and needle drops galore. It’s wildly up and down, and peaks when it releases those ambitions and revels in the chaos, violence, and gore. Then it’s a rowdy spectacle to behold. [Grade: B]
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