Aahana Swrup
In the 2014 horror film, ‘Unfriended’ viewers get to see the narrative unfold from the unique perspective of the protagonist’s computer screen. Blaire Lilly, a high school student, recently lost her classmate Laura Barns after the former was driven to suicide due to mass cyberbullying. A year after the event, on the anniversary of Laura’s death, Blaire and her friends find a stranger hijacking their group Skype call. As the anonymous caller unearths the group’s deepest, darkest secrets, the truth comes out about the video that contributed significantly to Blaire’s death. Thus, as Blaire and her friends find themselves faced with what seems to be a cyber ghost, the perils of the internet end up hunting them down in real life.
Since the film exclusively takes place inside Blaire’s computer, viewers get to glimpse various websites and apps that play a fascinating role in the narrative. Unexplainedforums, the discussion room that sheds some light on the supernatural behavior of Laura’s online accounts, is one such website. For the same reason, after delving into the forum through ‘Unfriended,’ viewers must have grown intrigued by its potential basis in reality.
Unexplainedforums Spoofs Similar Mystery-Centered Forums
As a found-footage film, ‘Unfriended’ maintains its connection to reality by pitching the narrative as a story unfolding in real-time, as seen on Blaire’s computer screen. Consequently, the bulk of the action remains confined to a Skype call and iMessages that the central characters partake in among themselves. Additionally, social media posts, videos on YouTube, and other similar mechanisms add a varied texture to the narrative, showcasing the authentic multi-tasking reality of the internet. However, where its dives into popular sites like Facebook and Instagram remain real, Unexplainedforums, the discussion website doesn’t share the same basis in reality.
In real life, Unexplainedforums is not an actual website where people can engage in discussions and explanations. Fans may be able to find blog posts archiving the visuals of the website, keeping it alive on the internet. Still, there isn’t an actual identical website with an interactive forum that allows space for collaboration. Therefore, Unexplainedforums remains confined to the film’s fictional narrative as a crucial element that sets up the story’s cyber-supernatural lore.
However, several similar real-life forums exist on the internet that were likely the inspiration behind the on-screen forum. Unexplained Mysteries is one of the most notable examples that people often associate with Unexplainedforums. The former is an actual well-known and loved website that is still active, where individuals can partake in discussions about wide-ranging topics, including historical, mythological, or supernatural mysteries.
Although such sites aren’t as common in the modern world—where Reddit tends to dominate such circles—they remain a staple relic of the early 2000s and mid-2010s. As such, Unexplainedforums further reflects the contemporary reality of the internet at the time when ‘Unfriended’ was released in 2014. Consequently, the fictional website becomes a tool for further enhancing the authenticity of the movie’s depiction of the internet. Therefore, even though Unexplainedforums isn’t an actual discussion forum, it strengthens the film’s relationship to reality.
Read More: Unfriended Ending, Explained
