YOU DIE (2020) (Dark Sky Films DVD Review)

YOU DIE (2020) 

Label: Dark Sky Films
Duration: 94 Minutes
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Audio: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Alessandro Antonaci, Stefano Mandala, Daniel Lascar
Cast: Erica Landolfi, Carola Cudemo, Simone Valentino, Simone Moretto, Micol Damilano, Rocco Marazzita, Alice Piano, Daniele Marmi

I'm in my forties, some might say that I am an old fart, I'll certainly say it, but I feel pretty young at heart still, but few things cinema-related make me feel old as the latest wave of techno-terror indies, I don't find phone apps all that frightening, that is unless it's my Wells Fargo app telling me the mortgage is overdue and I am a few dollars short, now that is truly scary. The latest slice of app-horror to come my way is the Italian film You Die - Get the App, then Die (2020) - that's the full name, though it's been shortened for this American release, and that's probably a good thing, the full title makes it sounds so generic, and guess what, it is.

Basically we have a new app called You Die, not unlike the app from the similarly conceived Countdown (2019). It's an augmented-reality app that lets you see the spirits of the dead all around you, there are loads of games like this these days, and this one has a twenty-four hour countdown clock that begins once you download it. If you don't get someone else to download the app within that 24-hour window you die, but even then you're only off the hook for another 24-hours. It seems you have to continuously get others to download the dang app, continuing the cycle and so on.

The generic premise lifts generously from better stuff like Ringu and It Follows, as well as not-so-great stuff like the aforementioned Countdown (2019), establishing a loose set of rules and then the characters setting about trying to figure out how to get oneself out of it. There's some origin talk of a spiritual medium who might have created the app to allow the living to see their dearly beloved in the afterlife, but it doesn't really add anything to the overall story, and it never answers how that evolved into a app that spreads like a curse and whatnot, it's just riffing on other ideas established in other films without adding much of anything new or particularly cool.

The ghosts as seen through the app/phone as you gaze about your surrounding aren't particularly horrific, a bit creepy, but nothing to write home about. The atmosphere is slightly elevated by a tension-filled score that ratchets up the creep-factor a bit. Eventually Asia and her non-believing
sorta-boyfriend seek the help of a computer techno-whiz, par for the course for these sort of flicks, and he doesn't really help other than to put her into contact with a mysterious/annoying blogger who only slightly furthers the mythology of the app and offers a way to survive it, but it's fairly rote stuff.

Something that sets the film apart is it's Italian styling, it's an attractively shot film with lots of moody lighting, great camera movement, and keen lensing, plus it has a strange undercurrent of sexuality,
that I would attribute to the strong It Follows influence. The cast is also quite good, it is a well acted film with some solid drama. There's a family member who wants Asia committed to an asylum, as you can well imagine everyone around her seems to thinks she's on the verge of a mental breakdown, not believing that an app is tormenting her, and there's a semi-decent payoff with that, and I like the somber way the main character chooses to take control of the situation and resolve it. The film is not awful, but overall the thing is just too generic to let it get under my skin, but at least it's stylish in it's execution, but this is still a one and done for me.

Audio/Video: You Die (2020) arrives on anamoprhic DVD from Dark Sky Films framed in 2.39:1 widescreen with a Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, with optional English subtitles. It's an attractive looking standard definition presentation with good color saturation and black levels, details are abundant and the stylish lensing is well defined. The Italian language stereo audio is well-balanced and without issue, the tension filled score sounds good, too.

We get no substantial extras on this release, only a trailer for the film and a selection of Dark Sky Films trailers. The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork with some stylish looking artwork, which is also featured on the disc itself.