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A 2010 film directed by Hideo Nakata, the same guy who made The Ring and Dark Water.
Five teenagers meet online and become friends. However, several of them have mental problems... and mixing these people with each other is like mixing nitro and glycerin...
Most of the story takes place in a metaphorical cyberspace: Online chatrooms are represented by surreal physical room where the characters physically sit and talk with each other. When the chatrooms are seen from the outside, however, it is clear that they are regular text-based chatrooms (with some two-dimensional graphical decorations), not a three-dimensional cyberspace. The real-live versions of the characters are seen chatting on regular laptops and iPhones.
- Complete Monster: William.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Basically what William and Eva do to Emily, she gets better though.
- Date My Avatar: The female lead starts falling for the male lead, based only on how he has presented himself online. The reality is for darker then she is willing to see.
- Driven to Suicide - several background characters watched by the main characters. Whether or not main characters will also end up like this is a major part of the plot.
- Five-Man Band - the main characters
- The "Hero": William.
- The Lancer: Eva.
- The Big Guy: Mo.
- The Smart Guy: Emily.
- The Chick: Jim.
- Foe Yay/Ho Yay: Between William and Jim. They kiss after all.
- For the Evulz - seems to be a common motivation
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
- Kill the Cutie: What William attempts to do to Jim.
- Rule of Symbolism: Most of the story takes place in locations that does neither literally exist nor are literally experienced by the characters: The audience is shown literal rooms as metaphorical representations of online chatrooms.
- Stupid Statement Dance Mix: One of the sequences in William's black plague video, with odd trance music playing while the claymation people suffer from the black plague.
- Teens Are Monsters
- Villain Protagonist: William.
- What You Are in the Dark - specifically, online where you are anonymous.