Open Windows

[Review] Open Windows

Now, more than ever, cyber security has become a very legitimate threat in which everybody is a target. While the majority of headlines involving hacking have involved big corporations and celebrities, it's oftentimes the everyman whose credit card information gets stolen. Hell, a lot of cyber threats involve leaking of personal information, such as addresses, social security numbers, even personal photos (as we're all mostly aware of thanks to last month's "The Fappening"). In whichever form it may take, cyber security is a huge deal that not too many people take as seriously as they should.

Nacho Vigalondo's Open Windows explores this notion of cyber security with a film that's equal parts suspense, sci-fi, and action, held together by an exciting technical approach in which the entire film is shown through various computer windows and screens (more on that later). Does Open Windows continue Vigalondo's creative vision that was shown in his previous films Los Cronoscrimenes and Extraterrestre, or are the windows not as open as audiences may desire?

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Open Windows
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Rating: N/R
Release Date: October 2nd, 2014 (VOD); November 7th, 2014 (theatrical release)

Nick Chambers (Elijah Wood) is the webmaster and owner of a fan site dedicated to actress Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey) that finds himself the winner of a contest to have a dinner and exclusive interview with Jill. However, she abruptly cancels on Nick. Downtrodden over the development, a man identifying himself as Chord (Neil Maskell), Jill's campaign manager, sends Nick an application that allows him to see through Jill's cell phone and computer screen as a means to make up for the cancellation. However, what begins as a voyeuristic breach of privacy soon becomes the only way Nick can protect Jill from a psychotic madman.

If this sounds pretty straight-forward, trust me when I say I've done my best to summarize the basic premise of the film without risking spoilers that reveal the true nature of the film's narrative, which has as many twists and turns that you'd expect from Vigalondo. As somebody who writes online for a living, I truly understand how important online nature is and how connected we must be to our sources of information at all times. Especially as an entertainment writer, sometimes a lot of our time is spent knowing every little detail and news bit about various celebrities. In a way, Open Windows serves as a critique of this culture of celebrity obsession. However, while the narrative will keep viewers along a very entertaining ride that, admittedly, results in a cheap ending, it plays a backseat to the technical achievements on display.

As noted by Vigalondo in my interview with him, Open Windows was shot with a multitude of cameras running at all times. The end result allowed various camera angles to be shot around the actors at all times through a contextual webcam, front-facing iPhone camera, computer screen, video camera, etc. The approach is a vast evolution of the typical first-person point of view seen in found footage films. However, whereas those films' characters are self-aware of the camera as both a camera and representative of a person, Open Windows' "cameras" aren't just cameras within the context of the film, but the aforementioned assortment of devices through which we can access information and, through that, visibility of the characters.

I might delve deeper into this analytical viewpoint of Open Windows at a later date, but for the sake of this review, I'll keep it brief and to the point: While the narrative discusses cyber security, voyeurism, terrorism, lack of privacy, etc., it's through the film's means of production (i.e. the channels in which both we, the audience, are relayed the information, as well as how the characters within the film are relayed the same information through the same channels) that formally make the connection/attachment to the film's themes. Sure, a big Hollywood blockbuster can have the same script, but if it were displayed through traditional ways, whether it's the third-person omnipresent perspective 95% of films follow or the first-person limited perspective of found-footage films, it wouldn't be the same. Literally every single second of Open Windows is seen and shown through these various "windows," and it's with this vision (both literally and figuratively) that I must tip my hat to Vigalondo to not only having the idea to craft this story, but to also have a format in which to properly tell it.

Open Windows is sometimes jarring, a little confusing, wholly entertaining, and will keep audiences asking questions throughout the duration of its runtime, whether they're about the film's plot or about how various scenes were shot. It's not a puzzle in the way Los Cronoscrimenes was, but it definitely has layers to it that audiences will want to piece together. I've spoken and praised a lot over Vigalondo's role in the film, but that's not to discredit both Wood and Grey; in fact, Grey's performance in the film is the best one I've seen in her career thanks to the perfect pairing between her personal persona and her character's.

Watch Open Windows and geek out over the film's technical achievements with your cinephile friends. This film is concrete proof that Vigalondo is here to stay, and I for one can't wait to see what he can churn out over the rest of his film career.

by Geoff Henao