Dear David

I was so looking forward to the movie version of this story for quite awhile. Glad I waited to watch it on a 7 day free trial of Starz because I would have asked for my money back if I saw it at the movie theater! And I want my free trial back! Lol..The original story that Adam Ellis put on Twitter (X) 😂) was so much better and creepier than the Hollywood version. I found it by accident and was glued to the entire thread. Read it as it plays out on Twitter because it has so many creepy chills even though we know it's fictional. I even liked the original backstory of David better that the movie version. Just don't even bother with the movie it'll be a complete waste of time.

Anybody that was on Twitter when this story was an active thread, will know it was an intriguing read.

Whilst this movie is "based" on those tweets, Adam Ellis supposedly had nothing to do with it as he left BuzzFeed years ago and according to him, they had the rights to all his work (including this story) If you're unfamiliar with the original story, maybe you will enjoy this non horror, drama based relationship movie. If you want to see the original Twitter feed he has moved it to Wakelet. It truely is a fascinating and creepy read.

This movie just had me questioning who tricked Justin Long into acting in another awful "horror" movie.

Don't pay to see it, wait til it's free.

A horror-movie, with at its core the (over)abundant use of social media, has an attractive 2020's touch to it. The critical edge is well done, we see the main character being absorbed by his cell phone, to the extent of neglecting his friends and even his lover; and we see how his social media company thrives on inventing new trending topics - however extreme or cringing - just to expand their bulk of followers.

But as an intended horror movie it fails. The premise is just too farfetched, and the execution too chaotic to make it really involving. Apart from a few creepy images, that flash by in an instant, there's hardly anything scary going on, and it's hard to get a grip on the supposed narrative. It's some sort of Candyman or Bye Bye Man "saying something three times" thing: in this case asking the supernatural internet troll a question three times, that does the trick of summoning a horrific fate unto yourself. But why this troll haunts the internet, or why Adam is chosen as a target, never becomes clear. The acting was just average. And it didn't really help that the Adam-character was rather sulky and unsympathetic, and not very pleasant to look at.

The official trailers made this film look hilarious, so I was excited to see it. I love unintentional comedies and I know movies based on creepypasta are always doomed to fail (ex; the film "adaptation" of Marble Hornets). I was fully ready to turn my brain off and enjoy a 2-hour idiot extravaganza with this film.

Instead, Dear David commits the cardinal sin of bad cinema; It's intensely boring. It's wholly lackluster. The pacing is a complete slog, even on 2x speed. The film makes Adam Ellis look like a complete tool (I'd assume the real Adam Ellis is probably an ok guy since I don't know him personally, obviously). It has a handful of silly moments that did make me chuckle, but it's mostly just slow, pretentious, out of touch, and painfully inoffensive.

Avoid this one. It's not even ironically good.

I assumed Dear David to be a serious horror movie, however it blew me away with it's horrible attempts at being scary! The script is unnatural and tonedeaf, this is not how the internet works and this is not how people talk. Every jumpscare flopped, there was no suspense or tension throughout, very disappointing for a HORROR MOVIE. Despite being produced by BuzzFeed, (a news company that writes about stuff that happens on the internet) it felt out of touch and was as if it was written by someone who doesn't use the internet often. Ontop of that, the story and script made no sense, despite being based off of something that (supposedly) actually happened. And, with as little spoilers as possible, the video game segment was the worst bit of this movie. If I had a single ounce of respect for this movie after any of the previous events, it was gone after the video game segment. All in all, this movie is atrocious, it isn't scary or funny, or even entertaining! Save your money and keep away.