i-Lived

I was a bit skeptical, due to low ratings,but decided to watch as I thought the storyline was interesting. It did not disappoint a bit! The story is unique, the main character is fun to watch as he seems real. We haven't had movies with similar stories for a while and I definitely found this one very interesting.

Acting was pretty good too. Maybe not the best,but I've seen much much worse so this was also a plus for the movie.

I also liked the camera work. It was slightly different than usual. It almost seemed "modern" and new. Not sure if that makes sense.

Overall, I was impressed and I think this movie deserves a really good scores. Certainly there are many blockbusters that don't even have 1/10th of what this movie has. Though I guess in this day and age, people want action and don't want to think and this story makes you think about your actions and consequences.

I didn't really know what to expect from a movie such as "I-Lived" prior to sitting down to watch it. All I knew was that it was a horror movie of sorts.

Turned out that "I-Lived" was a laughable attempt at making a horror movie and including modern technology as the source of the torment and problems. Did it work? No, not really. Especially, since the movie was slow paced and weighed down by a very stupid storyline.

Nor did it help the movie much that the entire character gallery was a heap of characters that were essentially faceless and could all have been played by the same actor or actresses. These were characters that I didn't care one bit about, and it was characters that weren't properly fleshed out in detail, background and motivation. Which, essentially, made the movie somewhat of a drag to sit through.

Sure, "I-Lived" did have some potential, but it was just squandered and wasted at the hands of director Franck Khalfoun.

This was a boring movie actually, although I managed to endure the ordeal right up to the very end, in the weakening and dying hope that the movie would improve and pick up its pacing along the way. That just never happened.

"I-Lived" is a movie that came and went without leaving as much as a scratch. I didn't even know about it before now in mid 2019, when I happened to come across it by sheer random luck. And I can in all honesty say that this is not a movie that I will be watching a second time.

This was a fantastic concept that was very well executed especially considering you didn't have a huge Hollywood budget.

The newcomer cast did a great job building the suspense taking us on an intense journey into a man's Mental unraveling at the hands of this phone app. Watching this film makes us realize how attached we are to our phones, and how we are living as voyeurs watching each other's lives online. Be careful what you wish for and read the user agreement. Great job Franck Khalfoun excellent as always. Rewatch the movie, and watch the videos closely, very creepy stuff.

Enjoy!

Cool concept, terrible execution.

Bad acting.

Bad cinematics.

Bad sound direction.

Bad atmosphere.

Just Bad Overall.

Nothing more to say. Don't waste your time.

Youtubers don't act like that.

2/10.

'i-Lived' is a cyber-psychological thriller with minimal shades of gore-horror. The story centers around Josh (Jeremiah Watkins), a tech vlogger who specializes in app reviews. As part of his routine, he comes across a self-help app called 'i-Lived' that asks its users to input the issues and problems that they face, for which remedies are provided in the form of a series of pop-up tasks.

First things first, this isn't the first movie that tries to showcase the apparent monstrosities hidden in the internet world. Therefore, the narrative treatment at the very least needed to be newfangled. Does 'i-Lived' keep its end of the bargain on that front? A resounding NO! 'Nerve' is a similar movie that has, to an extent, emerged a triumph in terms of crafting of visuals and character establishment (I think it's definitely 'watchable' even with its sugary connotations). The language-style (and gimmicks) used for the vlog recordings doesn't suit a tech-reviewer at all (forget professional, not even freelance!). Josh walks and talks like a high-on-energy-drink stand-up comedian in his videos, while he's more of an introvert (or ambivert) in reality.

Every little aspect in the movie has an artificial quality to it. The app, which is supposed to be the 'next big thing' in the tech world, has a shabby design and looks dated. The notion of smart- phone users never going through license agreements during installation and usage of these apps (and blindly click 'Yes to all') is stemmed from remarkable thinking (and I wish that had been put to the test more!). Unlike Josh's unfunny puns in his videos, the real fun begins when he starts to accomplish those unusual tasks set against the requests that he makes in the app. Josh soon beds a wealthy + goodlooking chick by the name of Greta (Sarah Power); his online following displays a marked growth; he lands a job with a large tech conglomerate; his sick mom miraculously shows improvement - all with the supposed help of the app.

None of the characters other than Josh are fully developed - in fact, some of them seem like tools placed deliberately into the film to complement the tasks required to be done, as per the app. Greta turns out to be mere eye-candy throughout, although one'd expect her character to be focal to the proceedings. Nope, never happens. Even the Filipino friend: the relevance of this character is by and large, minimal. Things go steadily downhill when Khalfoun lends the latter half of the movie a ghastly flavor. The thrills offered are barely enough, the horror almost absent (where's the creepiness? hint: 'Unfriended'). A couple of dream sequences sought to intrigue but even they didn't leave the lasting impression that they should have.

The message the film tries to convey is all too relevant for the current generation but it's the sloppy execution that acts as buzz- kill. The shock value and stakes for the characters needed to be a lot higher than what's unveiled in 'i-Lived'.

Verdict: Disappointing!