The screenlife thriller 'I'm Going to Play' directed by Anna Zaitseva had an exclusive premiere on the KION online cinema. We discuss the pros and cons of the film in our article.
Background
The film 'I'm Going to Play' was first shown abroad in 2021 as part of the main international horror and thriller showcase — the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal (Canada) and was the only Russian film. It was directed by Anna Zaitseva, author of the most popular short film on the Russian internet 'You're a Fool!'
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The plot of the film revolves around one of the teenage 'death groups' that have caused panic in Russian society in recent years. High school student Dana (Anna Potebnya) investigates the disappearance of her sister and realizes that the organizers of a strange group on social networks are involved. The girl starts playing along with other community members, trying to prevent the curators from bullying teenagers, and, by the laws of the genre, finds herself in great danger.
A Little About the Rules of the Game
'I'm Going to Play' is shot in the screenlife genre, and we think it's worth dwelling on it a bit more. This will be an important aspect in evaluating the film. Screenlife is a format of cinematic storytelling where absolutely all events take place on a computer screen, smartphone, etc. The biggest fan of this format, as is known, is director and producer Timur Bekmambetov, without whom the creation of this film would not have been possible. Bekmambetov even wrote a guidebook on how to properly shoot films in this genre.
The viewer sees a monitor screen and through various programs, services, applications, and recordings the plot unfolds. Usually, while watching such films, there is a feeling of complete immersion, as we observe what is happening from a first-person perspective. A plus is the strange aftertaste of horror. It's amazing what the most ordinary services, such as maps (not playing cards) or email, can sometimes do. One of the best films in the screenlife format can be called 'Profile' from 2018, which was directed by Bekmambetov himself. It even won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival in the 'Panorama' program. And there is also an excellent 'Searching' with John Cho in the lead role.
Let's Move to the Game
So, as we wrote above, the viewer becomes involved in the investigation of the strange death of the main character's sister. What happens on screen becomes truly frightening. The creators immerse us in all aspects of such a phenomenon as 'death groups'. The processes of recruitment, suggestion, and task assignment are shown here. At first, Dana fully devotes herself to the investigation and gathering evidence. But when in the second half of the film the viewer notices that the heroine also begins to immerse herself in the game, you want to shout through the screen: 'Stop! Remember why we are here in front of the screen!'
The film raises topics such as bullying at school, misunderstanding from peers and adults, and issues of domestic violence. At some moments, there is still a feeling that violence could be avoided, but this is just a small flash of hope that almost immediately fades. Also, the viewer is not shown the experiences of adults, so we watch the film only from a teenage perspective, so to speak, seeing only one side of the coin. Dana's mother is in grief, having already lost one daughter, and the second puts herself at risk.
For me, this story is about the difficulty of adolescence, when the old model of the world collapses and a new one has not yet been built, and you don't know where to turn and whether there is anyone who could help... About how important it is to have people nearby who are ready to truly provide support and listen, love you. I am close to the fact that my heroine Dana has a lot of perseverance, that she goes all the way. She is very independent, self-reliant, and at the same time I like her touchingness when it comes to first love. I like this fear of intimacy, her inner trepidation and tenderness. I sympathize with her desperate desire to fight and get to the truth, her selflessness.
Interestingly, one of the biggest drawbacks of 'I'm Going to Play' is its gimmick, that is, the screenlife genre. We simply observe the story through video broadcasts, video calls, and recordings of Dana's personal video diary. In this regard, the film brings absolutely nothing new to the format and loses significantly to its screenlife counterparts.
So, what do we have in the end? On the one hand, we have a decent socially acute drama with elements of a detective story and an unexpected finale. After watching, you want to hug a loved one or, at least, call them and ask how they are doing. From the point of view of drawing attention to societal problems, the film has no questions, but fans of the genre who like to observe someone else's life through the screen may be disappointed, because the film's runtime is more than two minutes (a full hour and a half), so you would like to see not only correspondence and exchange of videos and photos. In any case, whether to watch or not: the choice is yours. As always!
Trailer:
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