Open Windows is a found-footage film, although it purports to be something “more.” The movie is built around the gimmick of showing all of its events happening, in their entirety, on a single computer screen. But after the first half-hour or so, all constraints one might think would be in place with this conceit go out the window. There are so many webcams in play (almost always jolted into the plot with the lamest logic imaginable) that the film might as well be presented normally. But then the pretense of its gimmick would be lost, and it would be harder to tell that this is a terribly uninspired thriller.
It’s no coincidence that the introductory section, the one which actually sticks to the all-on-a-laptop idea, is the only good part. Nick (Elijah Wood) is a fanboy of sci-fi actress Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey) who thinks he’s hit the jackpot by winning a meeting with her in a contest. But as he’s settled into his hotel room, he’s informed that the meeting has been abruptly canceled. It’s then that Chord (Neil Maskell), who purports to be Jill’s manager, offers Nick an alternative thrill: access to Jill’s phone and laptop activity. Feeling jilted and entitled, Nick takes the opportunity. But then Chord turns out to be one of those special movie super-hackers, and begins orchestrating all manner of cyber-terror. And Nick, it turns out, is both his puppet and his scapegoat.
Other critics have already remarked on the strange timeliness of this film’s release, coming as it does so close to the massive theft of celebrity nude photos. Of course, hacking of public figures’ private activities is all but an accepted part of fame nowadays. In its claustrophobic, uncomfortable, tense beginning, Open Windows puts the viewer inside the skull of the kind of person who feels he’s owed something by a celebrity for no other reason than that she’s famous and he desires her. Casting Grey, a former porn star, in the role was a clever metatextual touch, although she’s given little to do in the movie besides whimper. But then, none of the actors are served well here. Wood can only play “Oh boy, I’m in over my head and OH NO PLOT TWIST” in so many different ways.
And those plot twists… jeezy petes. After the film abandons the hotel setting and starts to careen around the streets of Austin, the ridiculous, unnecessarily complicated developments just keep piling on. Eventually, a group of French hackers as well as some shadowy super-hacker (even super-hackier than Chord) become involved, and after a certain point, the proceedings collapse into complete incoherence. It ended up being a rare film where I was left not entirely sure of some of the vital details of the plot.
The multiple-windows-on-a-screen premise isn’t even utilized for what one would think would be no-brainers, like concocting some good old dramatic irony. But again, the movie doesn’t seem to really wish to stick to the format. Imagine if Jimmy Stewart was out of his apartment after just half an hour of Rear Window. This concept was done better by the “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” segment of V/H/S. It’s a shame that Open Windows squanders the potential it brews up at its start.
