Afterthoughts: Can't Take It Back (2017)

I'm writing this after finishing Can't Take It Back (2017). I didn't even realize that Logan Paul was in it until the beginning credits rolled. My reaction: "Well, fuck." But I was committed to watching it. I was intrigued by the "pitfalls of social media" premise. Either this movie was going to massively suck or be somewhat decent. Many online ratings suggested the latter.

So, I'm going to go over some of the highlights.

#1 - Jill Larson is amazing. Anyone seen The Taking of Deborah Logan? In that film, she shined as the titular character. In this, Larson (who plays Maya Rose, grandmother to a girl who was bullied before her death) is eerie. Her voice alone is intentionally creepy. Should Kristen trust Maya?

#2 - "Hatred is a disease." Morgan, the girl who was bullied, was possessed by hatred and let it consume her. "Good guy" Jake isn't such a good guy, and Maya can be trusted. Jake realizes that Morgan will never forgive him for what he did to her. Should he and the others be forgiven? Do they deserve it?

#3 - Eerie cinematography. There is actually an atmosphere of fear that gets cleverly created with symbolism and noise. You can hear the hanging iron nails clinking together around Kristen while she is in Morgan's room, thereby intensifying the terror. There is a juxtaposition of shadow/darkness and light that works well and is something that good horror films get right. When Kristen goes into the basement, I was thinking, "Oh hell no, girl, don't you go down there. That looks like a bad time." Hope she's had a tetanus shot. And, when Jake kills himself (oh yeah, spoiler alert), you don't see it. You hear the thump and see Kristen crumple to the floor, dusty light enveloping her.

And... the things this film gets wrong:

#1 - The ending. It is utterly abrupt and kind of predictable. The panning up through the ceiling to Kristen's now iron nail-ridden bedroom is kind of cool, but the conclusion feels... passe.

#2 - Clint is totally disposable. Logan Paul's character, Clint, seems like he was just thrown in there so that they could put a YouTube star in the movie. Paul's acting is about what you'd expect, but his character's fate is left out of the ending. He was the one teen in the movie who didn't have a hand in Morgan's death, but he clearly had a conscience about what happened to her. If you're going to make a movie about the morality of bullying on social media, you need strong characters from different moral standpoints. Clint gets tossed aside because he apparently isn't a bully.

#3 - The acting. Jill Larson stands out, but nearly everyone else falls flat. We're given a "final girl" who feels weak and bland, and "good guy" Jake doesn't actually feel remorseful for what he did to Morgan. And why did he do it? What were his motives? His whole character is just bland and seems like the filmmakers wanted to throw in someone who is the anti-Logan Paul but still has some teen heart-throb status. And the girl who plays Morgan does not come off as being an outcast or as a truly vengeful spirit.

I don't know. I'm a bit torn on this one. It did some things really well and totally flubbed others. In all, I'd say it is worth watching since it is only 89 minutes long, but I don't think most people will really feel connected with the characters. 2.5/5 stars.