I like going into movies not knowing much, and I met up with "Shook" under my false assumption it's a found-footage type movie... I think it was the poster, and the reminiscing of Shudder's "Host". No worries, a modern slasher will do. However, it is one full of flaws and implausibilities, despite all its social commentary and effort in innovation.
Mia is a social media influencer, leading "Makeup by Mia" with enough followers so that all of her friends would be impressed. She skips an evening with her friends, stays home (where most of the movie takes place) and soon becomes the target of an online terror campaign, where she'll have to solve a series of games to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. Is it real? Who is the killer? What kind of game is this?
An effortfully twisted one, it is. Director and writer Jennifer Harrington has served us a slasher where all of the characters are low-level social media influencers, hungry for attention, willing to sell out morally, confused in their constant chase for fame. Exhibitionism, sensationalism. These technology-dependent guys are an easy prey for the killer that has made their gadgets into his surveillance. Social commentary, often heavy handed, is present throughout "Shook" and seems to be one of the main tasks for director Jennifer Harrington. A horror satire of Instagram lives. For much of the movie, Mia is in the webs of the mysterious killer, the phone calls, the messages, her tools and her life turned against her. Suspense games resulting in very little suspense. "Shook" is an all-around lackluster when it comes to scares, and atmosphere, which is often damaged by simple realisticity issues. One of the most commendable parts of "Shook" is Dayse Tutor's performance as Mia, well emotional and believable, despite the character never truly resoluting in anything, but suffering for her millennial ways. The second half of "Shook" is twist-heavy, and it feels like the movie crumbles after each next one, for they can be underwhelming and/or improbable. The highly typical ending made me sigh without thinking. "Shook" also shows hit&miss stylistical effort, photography can be creative, Mia's thoughts are sometimes shown in cool ways, text messages and videos appearing on surfaces etc., eventually making it aesthetically feel slightly like "all over the place".
"Shook" is a passable flick, in both senses, it passes as a decent low-budget modern-problem slasher that kind of crumbles under its own weight, and also, You can just pass it, skip it, for it is flawed horror which often feels very lackluster, and improbable, especially because of its wanting-to-be-real setting. The chance that you'll be shook, is little. My rating: 4/10.
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