Director Vincent Vittorio presents a parallel 1980s universe in his feature Going Viral. Beckett O’Connell (Shea Pritchard) is a geeky high school computer nerd who finds himself gaining popularity due to the digital machinations of an artificial intelligence called Mr. Viral (Louis Labovitch). He makes a Faustian arrangement with Mr. Viral, but the gifts come at a price, forcing Beckett to fight for his freedom and save a friend on a Tron-like virtual grid.
Vittorio stays on-brand narratively, hewing very closely to 80s movie tropes. Beckett has an equally nerdy, quirky sidekick, best friend Jay (Matt Alea). He also has an attractive but largely ignored female friend named Carly (Alexis Moscoso) while he pines for the popular girl, Hope (Aline O’Neill).
Vittorio imagines in Going Viral what our contemporary narcissistic online influencer culture might look like in the 1980s. Given that an audience conversant with the 1980s seems to be the target demo for the film, this conceit is confusing and antithetical. From an actual 80s nerd perspective, the juxtaposition of influencer mania with the 8-bit personal computer culture and technology is grating. The A.I. avatar of Mr. Viral is a copy of the Max Headroom character made popular by Matt Frewer.
Not to get too “Sheldon Cooper” about it, but the Internet didn’t arise from ARPANET for the general public until 1993. YouTube didn’t exist until 2005. Artificial Intelligence was extremely primitive in the 1980s, with the current concept of A.I. only arriving in 2015. Recasting CRT monitors, Game Boy, Atari, and Apple II tech into the age of YouTube is jarring. For those who know what they’re looking at, Going Viral is a pastel-hued ice-cream headache of a film.
“Computer nerd recruited by an A.I….”
On the upside, Vittorio provides fan-service nostalgia from end to end. This is like an indie version of Ready Player One. From computer tech to fashion to a sign at the high school reading “Beat Shermer,” Going Viral is a hat tip to John Hughes and John Cusack movie fans and includes references to many other iconic 80’s films. If The Breakfast Club and Better Off Dead fell into a Hot Tub Time Machine with I Saw the TV Glow, Going Viral might be what pops out.
The soundtrack consists of perfect knockoffs of 80’s power ballads, highlighting events like a skateboard competition Beckett agrees to when challenged by the previous cool-guy bully from his school, a la The Karate Kid. The visual effects are impressive and nostalgically accurate.
The crown jewel of the film is an appearance by OG ’80s kid Corey Feldman as a legacy gamer called Samurai. He becomes a Mr. Miyagi-like mentor to Beckett as he plots to defeat Mr. Viral and free an army of enslaved gamers. They navigate The Grid / Matrix to the final showdown with Mr. Viral/Max Headroom/Master Control Program.
Check out Going Viral, where Mr. Viral will welcome you to an alternate dream of the 80s with a sneering “Greetings Programs.”
"…the visual effects are impressive and nostalgically accurate."
