Social media can be a real time killer in everyday life, but in the new movie Friend Request, it kills more than just time, thanks to a supernatural social outcast who seeks vengeance on a group of tight-knit college classmates (suffice it to say that there are some people you should never unfriend). With the new horror film now out in US theaters from Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, I had the pleasure of catching up with co-writer/director Simon Verhoeven for our latest Q&A to discuss how he came up with the idea for the film, exploring a supernatural subconscious of the Internet, mixing ancient rituals with new technology, and much more.
You can read on for my full Q&A with Verhoeven, and, in case you missed it, check out our Q&A with Friend Request co-star Liesl Ahlers and my review of the film, as well as the Friend Request prank video and a batch of new clips below.
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Simon! How did you come up with the creepy premise for Friend Request?
Simon Verhoeven: It started with a pretty private experience. A distant friend of mine had died, but his Facebook profile was still active online. A couple of weeks after his death I got a message from his profile. It was his brother sending out a collective message to his friends. but for a moment it really freaked me out deeply! That’s when I started thinking about this situation and its thematic possibilities more and more. Like, dead people’s profiles that stay active; scary, mysterious images on a timeline, and being “friends” with people you don’t know really know much about.
Friend Request stars Alycia Debnam-Carey, who many people are familiar with from her outstanding work on Fear The Walking Dead and The 100. What made Alycia the right fit to play Laura?
Simon Verhoeven: Alycia simply is a fantastic actress; very skilled, very smart, and very intense! Plus, she is a wonderful human being who wants the best for her friends and you can see and believe that in every moment of her performance. And, of course, there is a classic beauty and innocence about her that make people root for her. You don’t want this girl to get hurt!
How important was it for you to center the film on college students and explore that time period in people’s lives?
Simon Verhoeven: College life simply means having lots of social contacts and events; having fun and being open to the world, and maybe even sometimes being too open and careless in some social respects, thus making yourself vulnerable… In that age you might become friends with people who aren’t actual friends, people who aren’t really healthy for you. Later in life, people tend to become more careful.
Having Marina use Facebook to haunt Alycia and her friends really adds authenticity to your film. What was the process like to get permission from Facebook? Were they open to being featured in the movie?
Simon Verhoeven: They basically told us we can use Facebook as long as we alter the details. If you look closely this is not really Facebook. It just looks rather similar.
I love how Friend Request mixes modern-day technology with ancient rituals. Was it fun for you to mix those two contrasting elements into one cohesive story?
Simon Verhoeven: I totally agree that this is a very interesting element in the film. We researched a lot about ancient cultures and rituals that had the potential to translate into today’s social media world. Ideas like Facebook being a window to a collective, dark subconscious to your laptop or your phone being equivalent to dark mirrors that were associated with witchcraft long ago was always fascinating to me. The Internet might come across completely technical, but since millions of people put their thoughts, dreams, and their souls into this circle, there also is a subconscious, mysterious, uncontrollable, supernatural side to this system that I find rather scary.
What was the most challenging or rewarding scene to film while you were making Friend Request?
Simon Verhoeven: I really like the death of Laura’s first friend in the elevator. This was one of the early days of shooting and for me it was rather hard to pull off. So it is rewarding how it turned out!
Do you have any favorite horror films that inspired or influenced you while making Friend Request?
Simon Verhoeven: I like classic horror films from the ’80s, especially Carpenter’s early works. I grew up with them. I also like the typical cliché films where a group of friends get killed one after another. This old-school feeling is very much present in our film! Of course, I also like The Ring, but there is not just one film that inspired us.
With Friend Request now out in theaters in the US, do you have any other projects on deck that you can tease?
Simon Verhoeven: My last film [Welcome to Germany] I shot in my home country of Germany. Now, I am working on completely new stories, dark ones, too, but it is too early to talk about them. :)