If You Go See ‘Unfriended: Dark Web,’ There’s No Telling Which Ending You’ll Get
Of all the film genres, horror is typically the most likely to have alternate endings — specifically either a bummer ending or a happy-ish one. While test screenings can have an impact on which ending ultimately makes it to theaters, home releases often include both. Hostel, The Butterfly Effect and The Descent are just a few of those. (It’s interesting to note that, when given the choice, audiences usually prefer the darker ending of the two.) But in the case of Unfriended: Dark Web, the film is being released with both endings. The kicker? You have no way of knowing which ending you’ll get when you see it in theaters.
When a film arrives at a movie theater, it comes with a list of notes for the projectionist, including any directions they might need. For Unfriended: Dark Web, the sequel to Blumhouse’s 2014 bleak-as-f—k horror flick, theaters have apparently been informed that the film comes with two endings — according to these projectionist notes that were obtained and shared on Twitter:
The first Unfriended was fairly unpleasant, and according to those who have seen the sequel — which premiered at SXSW back in March — Dark Web is even more nasty than its predecessor. Dark Web screened a few times that week, but I didn’t hear anyone talking about an alternate ending, so that might be a recent addition.
There’s a 28-second difference between the two runtimes, so it doesn’t seem like it’s a huge deal, but it’s still interesting — and it’s certainly a clever way to encourage audiences to see the film more than once.
Unfriended: Dark Web hits theaters on July 20.