I don't know why I decided to give my time to Ratter, and I cannot even recall how I first became aware of it. It certainly doesn't seem like the kind of thing that I would like, having already failed to be impressed by a few other notable cyber-thrillers that seemed to be constructed around the idea of "the internet is SO bad and will snatch your children away within a matter of hours." I'm glad I did give it my time though, because it's certainly a bit better than the titles that most people will tend to mention when asked for recommendations of films in this vein.
Ashley Benson stars as Emma, a student living in New York who doesn't realise she has had her devices hacked and is being observed by an obsessed stalker. Viewers are shown the POV of the stalker, viewing Emma through the lens of her computer, phone, and any other internet-enabled device that he can access. The stalker isn't satisfied for long by just observing, and soon starts to meddle in Emma's life, especially as she starts to navigate a potential relationship with a fellow student, Michael (Matt McGorry).
Okay, not much happens for most of the runtime here. I understand that this is a film people may hate, and may find crushingly dull. I can't really pin down why it worked so effectively for me, but it did. There's a feeling of authenticity throughout, despite some tasteful editing allowing the leading lady to retain her modesty, and none of the camera views feel forced or unbelievable (unlike, for example, any film attempting to maintain a "found footage" style by having characters constantly videocall one another and do things that ensure they can be seen constantly).
Written and directed by Branden Kramer, his only feature to date, and seeming to expand on his debut short named Webcam (co-directed with Stefan Haverkamp and Jan Jaworski), this is even more interesting and tense because it doesn't tend to aim for sensationalism. There are aspects that don't work as well as they should (I think some lighting and audio effects are there to let us know what the hacker/stalker is up to, but they also make you wonder how the people being observed don't become aware of the intrusion), but it's generally a well-constructed thriller that consistently and quietly escalates things to an ending that . . . well, you will have to see for yourself how things play out.
Benson does a good job in the lead role, acting naturally and interacting with her tech in a way that shows her often remaining oblivious of anything being out of sorts. McGorry also does well in his role, and becomes understandably perplexed as he starts to also fall victim to some hacker tricks that are designed to cause strain in any budding relationship. Kaili Vernoff isn’t present much, as Emma’s mother, but she does well, and there is a good supporting turn from Rebecca Naomi Jones, playing a supportive best friend.
If you don’t like the idea of the main premise then you are unlikely to enjoy this. It is all about that “gimmick”. I think it does the best it can with it though, and it works as a standard drama/thriller while also double-stamping things in the third act to ensure it also serves as a warning against the perils of tech (in)security.
7 /10
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