Being a major gaymer and a ScreenLife horror fanatic, Livescreamers pretty much felt tailor-made with me in mind. While its concept grabbed me right away, there is a certain caution that comes in absorbing indie horror. Innumerable bottom-of-the-barrel flicks release every year, and the low budget trappings can stunt a project’s full potential. Additionally, the concept of gaming meets spooky has been done before in everything from Brainscan to Stay Alive. Thankfully, Livescreamers has more in common with Host and Unfriended than any others. At times, it feels like a love letter to the indie gaming community, yet takes aim at performative behavior, queer baiting, the cost of fame, suicide, cancel culture, and grooming. Built from the ground up by writer/director/producer Michelle Iannantuono, Livescreamers houses a surprising breadth of original ideas, enmeshed in a gory, chronically online package of delights.
Janus Gaming is all the rage, with every single member of its team having some pretty rabid fans. For today’s episode, the “incredibly diverse” crew features a contest winner and major fangirl guest named Lucy (Neoma Sanchez). The special occasion: the group’s first playthrough of an exciting underground survival horror game called House of Souls. In a pretty sweet twist of authenticity, Unreal Engine is one of the film’s producers, adding a unique level of believability in the surprisingly great-looking game we watch unfold onscreen. A player creation visual allows the entire group to fully customize their characters down to their chosen pronouns. To make the session more palatable, the majority design near-reflections of themselves with one notable exception. As the gamers get deeper into the massive mansion at the center—boldly said to be a place where wayward spirits enter never to depart—they realize their experience may be a bit too sculpted around their real life personas.
Video game livestreaming has become so commonplace lately that nearly anyone with a YouTube account has probably seen at least a couple videos, often accompanied by an annoying commentator or two. Despite what the title may promise, they make sure to point out this multiplayer session actually will not be live. Instead, they are recording it to be aired at a later date. Livescreamers takes full advantage of the streamer concept, leaning into the character archetypes that presents, relatively free from judgement. Iannantuono leaves the actual judging to the game itself, and the manner in which the players attempt to overcome its many intensive obstacles. Initially, none take things seriously on any level. After a game of trivia results in the first major death, the narrative shifts dramatically into the macabre. The players are forbidden from seeking help or turning off the game at all, lest they all die.
The performances are all better than expected. A cast of just eight fill out the roster, not counting the aforementioned Lucy. These include: Janus Gaming overlord Mitch (Ryan LaPlante); way-too-pretty spouses Taylor (Coby C. Oram) and Gwen (Sarah Callahan Black); frustrated queer gaming expert, Dice (Maddox-Julien Slide); inseparable besties Jon (Christopher Trindade) and Davey (Evan Michael Pierce); over-positive cat-eared Zelda (Anna Lin); and traumatized black semi-host Nemo (Michael Smallwood). It would have been so easy for Livescreamers to feel lazy, like it was just pushing an agenda for the Janus channel’s trademark “inclusion” without anything real to say. Instead, Iannantuono makes nuanced observations, with plenty of dialogue on any given topic without feeling as if the script was just blindly checking off boxes. Every individual in the game’s roster receives texture. Davey appears in-game as an NPC that becomes Jon’s companion whom can even be “flirted with” if chosen. Will Jon decide to pander to the fans and embrace the gay? Do Mitch’s calls for inclusion and diversity extend to non-binary Dice or Nemo considering a comments section often out for their blood? Making Lucy the outsider, an audience surrogate of sorts, was a stroke of genius. There is so much going on here under the surface that extends well past the scope of a group of so-called friends playing a video game for fun.
The kills themselves are surprisingly well done, too—an especially noteworthy feat given the obviously low budget. Each and every death feels significant despite a smaller cast, and majorly impacts the story going forward. The siren, the de factor main baddie, has an undeniable onscreen presence. The first-person perspective of each player thrusts us right into the action in a more dynamic way than some of the better indie titles I have recently played. This builds great suspense, growing more intense as the film barrels towards a captivating climax. Dying one by one leaves breathing room for effective character building; the twists and turns are strengthened by way of the inherent authenticity and naturalism Iannantuono was able to capture amongst the young cast of performers.
Livescreamers cements itself as the ultimate die-in-the-game-you-die-in-real-life movie, a worthy modern day successor to 2006’s fun-but-disposable Stay Alive. Apparently, there is a full-length first movie entitled Livescream on YouTube that I did not get a chance to view beforehand; regardless, sequel or not, this satisfying flick plays out seamlessly. Despite my expectations, I was quickly won over by the format and commitment to the schtick. Somehow, Michelle Iannantuono manages to dodge the pratfalls of similar offerings. By staying true to the roots of livestream gaming while offering up a searing critique of toxic fandom and performative authenticity, Livescreamers unabashedly embraces the indie horror charms of its roots.
Livescreamers screened at 2024’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival.
nice!!