Dear David is another horror film (like Elevator Game) based on an internet meme.
In this case, an old Buzzfeed twitter thread about a man who claims he is being haunted/trolled by a sleep paralysis demon, in the form of a young boy, named David.
Both in waking life...and on the internet.
Having never been a Buzzfeed user- or internet trend follower- myself...this is the first I'm hearing of it.
So I'm of the viewer class who has gone into the movie without being privy to the trend it is based on.
Which makes the whole thing seem like it was funded by Buzzfeed, in an attempt to recapture the attention of the internet, in a way that could garner them the virality that the original story managed to perpetuate.
An elaborate marketing scheme designed to farm clicks...which is all it ever was in the first place, mind you.
And it almost worked.
As I was somewhat enticed to search for Buzzfeed...if only to see if it is actually still relevant.
However, it wasn't enticing enough to overcome my will not to care.
Which kind of gives you an idea about how the movie sits.
Storywise (on it's own), it just comes off as a mediocre psychological horror that is based on "the entity" experience (made famous by the much better, based-on-a-true-story, film, from 1985, of that name).
Only, with the male character, here, experiencing a male form of the entity...presumably, because he's gay.
As men normally experience a gray-haired crone, as opposed to the shadow-like male entity experienced by females.
That being said...that's not to say that this is overtly horrible...or by any means unwatchable.
Just that it's kind of mid, in comparison to it's much better predecessor.
Because the action bits in this don't hit as hard.
While the attempts at jump scaring you just aren't effective.
Though, to be fair...this film is much more psychological in nature.
Focusing on the fragile mental state of the main character- and his subsequent downward spiral- as opposed to a physical investigation into the paranormal nature of the unseen world from which this phenomenon originates.
So...it is of a somewhat different nature, despite being based on a somewhat similar experience, of a very real phenomenon (I'm well aware of because it happened to a friend of mine...and led to a police incident, which I ended up writing a song about).
Which is precisely why it can be exploited by company's like Buzzfeed, whose bottom line is based on creating the next viral sensation...not only to garner clicks...but keep itself relevant.
Which is, unfortunately, what this film feels like it's a desperate attempt to do, in the end.
4.5 out of 10.
