Do Not Open

In one sequence, Dad is almost caught pleasuring himself after work. After the incident in a dinner sequence, there is an awkward moment with a tearful mom and anxious kids.The scene turns acidly comical when Dad picks up a long sausage with a fork, smiles, presents it to the family at various angles and bites into it after a remark that makes them all laugh. Online porn is now acceptable to this family.

Daughter, unlike other family members, has a solid white bedroom, bright lights, and mirrors like a television studio where she freely examines herself front and back.  Babarik presents sexualized shots of her when she gets up in the morning and stretches with an almost orgasmic expression.

“…a violent eruption of misery, sexuality, murder, and hate…”

The virus publishes a deep fake video of Daughter having sex with a study mate. The video goes out to Dad’s workmates, other family, and her school friends. She  is humiliated, but Dad becomes increasingly titillated as he watches the event unfold. Digital lies and horrors ramp up when the family tries to have a technology-free weekend at a cabin. Dad takes Son out to learn the manly art of hunting. Mom’s horrible past trauma becomes a bloody reality, and then Dad has an amorous encounter that he thinks is with his wife. The virus soon begins to insidiously twist and change the family members, leading to a violent eruption of misery, sexuality, murder, and hate.

Do Not Open  indulges in vicious dark fantasy about digital dependency. The horror is not supernatural but based on destructive, soul-crushing past events. The madness is a creeping paralysis of the nuclear family unit. This film reminds me of the work of Ty West and the biting, if derivative, satire Maxxine.