JANE (2022)

Jane (2022)
Directed by: Sabrina Jaglom
Written by: Rishi Rajani, Sabrina Jaglom
Starring: Chlöe Bailey, Madelaine Petsch, Melissa Leo

JANE
Directed by Sabrina Jaglom

Being closer to 40 than 30, I didn’t grow up in the social media age. If horror movies are anything to go by, this is a good thing: there’s no shortage of cautionary digital tales. Maybe it’s the anonymity or, on the flip side, how breezily we share our information. Perhaps it’s because of how quickly it’s grown – even in the last few years. Regardless, it’s been fertile ground for our genre. Whether it’s cyberbullying, false identity, or literal ghosts in the machine, it’s been done to death. So to say this latest outing, Jane, the feature-debut of co-writer/director Sabrina Jaglom is joining a crowded market is an understatement. It doesn’t help that the story itself isn’t an especially original take on a tired subject matter.

The titular character (Yu) commits suicide in a short, sombre intro sequence. This is devastating for her best friend Olivia (Petsch), who tries to bury her feelings in an obsession with getting into Stanford University. So she doesn’t take it well when the new girl, Camille, threatens her place on the school debate team. Fortunately, she can reconnect with another old friend, Izzy, and together they dig up dirt on her rival. One night they find out they can access Jane’s Connect account (Facebook with a different name) and realise they can use it to ruin her life. Only it isn’t long until things turn more sinister and posts go up that neither remembers making. It can’t be Jane though – she’s dead. Right?

For a film like this to work, the characters need to be interesting: both the ones doing the pranks and the ones who are victims of them. As an audience, we should be backing the baddies then feeling bad about it. Unfortunately, both sides of the equation are underdeveloped. Starting with the more obvious point, we have no particular allegiance to those being named and shamed, nor do we hate them. It’s, therefore, hard to feel either complicity or glee in the second half It doesn’t help that dramatic stakes are also very low, with the story embracing neither the tragedy nor black comedy potential baked into its Heathers meets Unfriended premise. This means that we transition into the third act with little momentum, and the only way for the story is to narrow in on the relationship between Olivia and Izzy.

There’s dramatic potential here, and I liked seeing the previously estranged friends renegotiate their relationship in the absence of Jane. However, the focus on their pranks rather than them as people means neither gets the opportunity to be interesting. It’s frustrating as I know there’s a good story to be told about those left behind after a suicide – how they deal with their sorrow, their confusion, and maybe even their anger. Yet these themes aren’t integrated well with the action, and as it becomes more about social media gone wrong, the grief and the game elements detract from each other. Jane rightfully remains a mystery; she’s gone, and she hasn’t left 13 tapes for people to learn the reasons why. And yet, as the starting point for a thriller, her suicide seems crass. She does get to appear, skulking around silently. I’ll give Jaglom credit and assume she’s a projection of her dark side rather than a vengeful spirit (otherwise, it becomes far worse).

Still, the cast does their best with mediocre material. Madelaine Petsch was one of the standouts in Riverdale. And while the role of Olivia isn’t a giant leap from her mean girl wheelhouse, it’s a good vehicle for her moving forward. She shows some range and has the charisma to be a leading lady. Chlöe Bailey and her have great chemistry, and it’s something the film should have played up more. The resentment they have because each thinks the other could have done more is well-handled here. As is the smattering of scenes in which we get to see them reminisce. Still, it’d benefit from some flashbacks or scenes of them happy – to show what’s at risk and what both have been missing out on. Without these ingredients, the rushed, underwhelming ending works as neither a resolution to the story nor the people in it. Unlikely to make a highlights reel.

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