By: Addison Wylie

My experience with Cody Calahan’s Antisocial 2 started with a surprise.  Antisocial offered some squeamishly great effects but was by no means “one for the books”.  While ultimately forgettable, it did leave on enough of a cliff-hanger to provoke thoughts of a sequel.  However, it was a small production and the chances of seeing another Antisocial were slim.

For Calahan to push himself to continue the story of Sam – the Social Redroom survivor – had me excited.  How was the filmmaker going to expand on his own material about this killer technological virus and his badass heroine?  I’m disappointed to report that Antisocial 2 is a flakey anticlimactic drag that’s light on gripping action and scares, but goes even heavier on a story that’s all too on the nose for its own good.

After her previous adventures, Sam (played by Michelle Mylett) travels through apocalyptical ruins, trying to locate her newborn son.  On her search, she meets a technologically savvy survivor named Bean (played by Josette Halpert) and is soon captured by a team of hardened theorists who are looking for a cure to end the Social Redroom virus.

Calahan’s sequel is no different from a cash-in from the Resident Evil series.  Resident Evil, while incompetent and shallow, at least desires to give the audience entertainment.  All Antisocial 2’s screenplay wants to do is convince movie goers its intelligent by comparing critical end-of-the-world details to how modern technology controls us.  Screenwriters Chad Archibald, Jeff Maher, and Calahan are far too serious about this whole thing, although making Bean a crucial role in finding a cure is a clever way to hint that young people are still the only ones who know how to navigate through inexplicable online media.

Antisocial 2 is all work and no play, and made me a dull boy.  Most of the exposition diatribes reminded me of the overcooked interrogation scenes from Chad Archibald and Matt Wiele’s sci-fi flick Ejecta – a film Calahan also produced.  Michelle Mylett’s performance and the set design are the only areas that show effort in a film solely interested in encouraging movie goers to pat the movie on the back for being timely.

If news of a third Antisocial come creeping down my news feed, this sequel has put a damper on any sort of curiosity I may feel towards it.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie