Unsubscribe (film)

Unsubscribe is a 2020 film created by actor and YouTuber Eric Tabach and filmmaker Christian Nilsson.[9] Starring Charlie Tahan and YouTuber Michelle Khare,[3] with Nilsson also featuring in the film alongside YouTubers Thomas Brag and Zach Kornfeld,[10] the 29-minute film[7] follows five famous YouTubers who are tricked into joining an online call, only to find themselves stalked and hunted by an internet troll on camera.[6][3]

Unsubscribe
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChristian Nilsson[1]
Produced byXianssen[2]
Screenplay byChristian Nilsson[1]
Starring
Music byHugo Lopez[2]
Production
company
TXE[2]
Running time
29 minutes[7]
CountryUnited States[8][5]
Budget$0[3]

The film gained international publicity for gaining a #1 spot in worldwide theaters and earning $25,488 USD on a $0 budget.[1][11][12] The title and amount of money was gained via a technique known as "four-walling", which allows filmmakers who rent out a whole theater to gain all of the profits from that movie, something only considered lucrative during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Plot

Five YouTubers conduct a video-call[3] for their friend's birthday,[2] but begin to be stalked by an enigmatic member of the call.[3][1][8]

Cast

Reception

Reception to the film was mixed. Though critical reception of the film's content was mostly negative,[13] the film garnered mostly positive reviews for its creation process and ability to gain high rankings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Washington Post praised the film as "a testament to artistic ingenuity under lockdown",[6] while NME called the film an "entertaining hoax",[11] and Fox News opined that "garnering a No. 1 release – albeit short-lived since 'Unsubscribe' failed to throw off weekend box office numbers – is a stout accomplishment in itself".[9] Other sources were more ambivalent, such as Decider, which stated that "[w]hether this stunt is a stroke of brilliance or a stroke of shameless self-promotion is up to you",[10] while Trillmag said that "Unsubscribe's status as a historical filmmaking achievement is indicated by the unorthodox (and deviously scheming) method through which it achieved box office success".[8]

gollark: Weird colon-separated values because posix.
gollark: Do `uname -a` for non-evil reasons?
gollark: What if you find a privilege execution exploit and take over the server?
gollark: Oh, I see, a wørkthing™.
gollark: Why are you using this "hosting" anyway?

References
  1. "Their film played for 1 day at 1 LI theater — and became the No. 1 movie in America". Newsday. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  2. "Unsubscribe - Trailer 2020 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  3. Nevett, Joshua (2020-06-19). "How a $0-budget movie 'topped the US box office'". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  4. Unsubscribe, retrieved 2020-08-07
  5. "$0 budget film 'Unsubscribe' tops Box office". Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  6. Elfrink, Tim (June 18, 2020). "Want to top the box office during a pandemic? Film for free on Zoom and then rent out a theater". The Washington Post.
  7. All citations that can be found, such as these ones,[5][6] cite the film's length at 29 minutes.
  8. "$0 Budget Movie 'Unsubscribe' Tops U.S. Box Office - Trill! Magazine". Trill! Magazine. 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  9. Young, Julius (2020-06-19). "'Unsubscribe' is a $0-budget movie that cleverly 'topped the US box office'". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  10. "These YouTubers Had the No. 1 Film in America Thanks to a Pandemic Loophole". Decider. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  11. "Box office busted: a short history of Hollywood's greatest ever hoaxes". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  12. "'Unsubscribe': $0-budget film made by pranksters tops US box office | NME". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  13. Actual reviews of the film's content are few, but those that can be found are largely negative; for example, Trillmag's review, which called the plot "sub-standard".[8]
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