Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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“Unhinged” Film Details
- Director(s): Sam Werner
- Writer(s): Adam Hines
- Public Release Date (Netflix): June 30, 2026
- Genre(s): Crime, Horror
- Content Rating: 18+
- Primary Language: English
- Images © of / Courtesy Of Netflix
Game Summary
A storm raging through the area has caused a blackout, and Ava finally decides it is time to leave, and she plans to do so with her best friend Claire. However, a detour to check on a neighbor reveals Ava isn’t alone, and someone has plans to take advantage of the storm and lack of emergency response.
Cast and Characters
Ava (Zoe Kravitz)
- Character Summary: The lead character, who you play, that is trying to escape a serial killer.
Claire (Sadie Sink)
- Character Summary: Ava’s best friend, who lives across the street, who is trying to help you, while potentially exposing you by calling and texting excessively.
Ben (Troy Baker)
- Character Summary: Your super who is supposed to be helping you with the building blackout, but is slightly less helpful than Claire.
Highlight(s)
A Story Mode [82.5/100]
As someone who barely plays video games that aren’t turn-based, I always appreciate a story mode, aka easy mode. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t start off with this option, but rather waits for you to die in order to do so. But, for those who are struggling with having to use your phone like a Wii-mote, this could make things easier.
A Genuinely Creepy Game [83/100]
The killer is genuinely creepy, and while using your phone isn’t the easiest thing, using it as a lifeline puts a lot into perspective. Be it whether the flashlight can reveal your position, Claire calling, a text coming in, and so much more. Add in the fear of dropping your phone as you try to move throughout the building, and it is easy to get immersed and develop pain in your wrist because you fear not hitting a quick time event before you die.
Low Point(s)
Using Your Phone As A Controller Was Trash [63/100]
This game is solely made for people who have phone cases that can handle your phone being flung across the room. The game doesn’t really give the best explanations on how to play at first, and even once you get the hang of it, your phone seemingly is unable to recognize that the center of the screen hasn’t moved. Thus leading to what feels like a cursor drift and having to repeatedly reset your phone’s pointer to the middle of the screen.
Some may say this adds to the fear; I would say this gimmick makes it so what should be fear ends up becoming the type of frustration that could keep people from wanting to finish the story.
Did You Really Have Choices Or Were Things Preordained? [68/100]
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch was probably the last Netflix game I played and covered, and that had a notable amount of branching storylines to choose from, or slip into. Unhinged doesn’t really feel like that. Ignoring Claire’s phone calls, as the killer is in the other room, isn’t really an option. Forcing her to text, or even texting the super Ben? Not an option. You don’t even get dialog choices.
Now, I only played through the game once, for honestly once was enough. But the lack of viable options, or at least the appearance of so, makes this feel like a one and done game.
Overall
Our Rating (74/100): Mixed (Rent or Watch Playthrough)
What sucks about Unhinged is that the story can draw you in, it has the voices of actors you likely enjoy, and the concept of a interactive horror movie is good. However, having to use your phone, which has no means to truly calibrate well with your monitor or television, paired with it seeming like you don’t really have much options on how to guide Ava? It leads to Unhinged fighting against itself and making anything you could praise come with a caveat.
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