{"id":3328,"date":"2026-06-30T22:06:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3328"},"modified":"2026-06-30T22:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:06:28","slug":"netflixs-horror-game-unhinged-is-funny-scary-and-points-to-a-future-without-second-screens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3328","title":{"rendered":"Netflix\u2019s Horror Game \u2018Unhinged\u2019 Is Funny, Scary and Points to a Future Without Second Screens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nSPOILER ALERT:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>This post contains mild spoilers from the video game \u201cUnhinged,\u201d which is now available to play on Netflix.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Robin Byrd on Going From Porn Actress to TV Host, OnlyFans and Sarah Jessica Parker Producing Her HBO Documentary<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen it comes to horror movies, I am a wimp. A coward, a chicken, a scaredy-cat. It\u2019s my favorite genre, but without fail, you can find me jumping and whimpering, even at buttoned-up film festivals and press screenings.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I heard that David Fincher and Zach Cregger collaborated to help develop the interactive Netflix game \u201cUnhinged,\u201d I was so excited to give it a test drive. Not only does it come from the minds of two of the best directors working today, but unlike horror games that devolve into mowing down hordes of zombies with machine guns, this project promised more of a \u201cyou\u2019re living in a horror movie\u201d premise.<\/p>\n

\n\tIndeed, although it\u2019s animated, the first-person feel of \u201cUnhinged\u201d makes it a believable simulacrum of a real-life nightmare. You play as Ava (voiced by Zo\u00eb Kravitz), who is woken up by her best friend Claire (voiced by Sadie Sink) when the power on their apartment block goes out. Soon enough, Ava finds out the exit doors on the floor are locked, her neighbor is missing and a serial killer (voiced by Troy Baker) might be rifling through her apartment.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough the plot to \u201cUnhinged\u201d is razor-thin, it allows for a fluid tale with substantial scares that can be run through in about 35 minutes. Perhaps most impressive is the game\u2019s visuals, bathed in darkness with your smartphone\u2019s flashlight the only thing keeping clues and exits visible. Instead of a traditional controller, your real-life phone becomes Ava\u2019s device, fielding increasingly urgent calls from Ava and your put-upon building super (also voiced by Baker). The pointing mechanics allow you to grab onto objects \u2014\u00a0from a screwdriver to force open a lock to a nail gun to shoot at the killer \u2014\u00a0and move around the building with no substantial learning curve.<\/p>\n

Read more Xbox Pulls Out of\u00a0\u2018Project Fantasy\u2019 Video Game From IO Interactive; Hideo Kojima\u2019s \u2018OD\u2019 Still in the Works<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s helpful, given that the killer is quick, scary and pretty disgusting. From an early scene of him having fun with some long intestines to nailing Ava\u2019s hands to a table, there are plenty of squirm-inducing moments which encourage moving quickly to get the fuck away. <\/p>\n

\n\tIronically, the biggest villain in \u201cUnhinged\u201d might be Claire, who is always blowing up your phone at inconvenient times and offers no real advice you couldn\u2019t figure out on your own. Despite trying to ignore her calls several times, you need to interact with her to keep moving forward, which almost inspired me to team up with the game\u2019s psycho killer to go across the street and pull her guts out instead.<\/p>\n

\n\tLuckily, Kravitz is a great vocal lead, giving big emotions during her brief line readings. If you play your cards right, she can shepherd you to final girl safety. I ended up alive at the end the first time I played, thanks to sharpened reflexes as a result of my horror movie discomfort. That said, on a second playthrough I found the joy in getting butchered, as it adds another grisly moment, as well as conjuring two police officers who gloriously deadpan their thoughts about the crime scene.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe jury\u2019s out if we\u2019ll see a sequel, but in the meantime, \u201cUnhinged\u201d exists as a unique proof of concept of recovering audience attention spans. If your phone is otherwise engaged as a flashlight looking for clues in a ramshackle apartment building, you won\u2019t be second-screening. Just as the \u201cChoose Your Own Adventure\u201d books could get even the lousiest readers to turn pages, interactive and gamified original content could be the next step to retaining audiences longer. If audiences respond to this hybrid model of movies and gaming, it could be a scary good way for Netflix to evolve its stranglehold on culture.<\/p>\n

Read more How Harlan Coben and Netflix Found Record-Breaking Success Together \u2013 and What Comes Next for Their Mystery-Thriller Universe<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the trailer for \u201cUnhinged\u201d below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Unhinged’ is a Netflix game that plays like you’re living in a horror movie starring Zo\u00eb Kravitz and Sadie Sink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25,2736],"class_list":["post-3328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-netflix","tag-unhinged-2"],"yoast_head":"\nNetflix\u2019s Horror Game \u2018Unhinged\u2019 Is Funny, Scary and Points to a Future Without Second Screens - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3328\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Netflix\u2019s Horror Game \u2018Unhinged\u2019 Is Funny, Scary and Points to a Future Without Second Screens - 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