App (2013) User Reviews

App - Good in phone and average in movie

[gurunathankrishnan · 6/10 · 22 June 2016]

This is one of those movies which highlights the negative aspect of the modern dependency of people in technology. It's not an irony that the app in the move is named after "Siri".

The concept is wonderful. What will happen to you if the app controls you and decides your action on your day to day life. But again it only focuses on the partying, private life etc in the movie rather than an interesting crime plot. Nevertheless it's a good effort

The movie loses its focus when it starts killing people upon its own- does it have virtual memory or the artificial intelligence to decide how to kill and when to kill and what to use. How can a app know that it has to explode itself because someone is going to destroy the phone? It's bizarre. The movie is not predictable at the end but it's also not such a suspense that it can make people amaze. How can a doctor use such untested technology and ready to lose out patient and that too developed by a small street tech guy and not corporate giant?

But kudos to the effort of trying a different theme which can also make people think twice before getting addicted and opening their entire life in the virtual world. If you like a different movie and don't mind spending 90 mins, then it's OK to watch it

A Horror Film About Apps? Great Concept.

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 9 June 2014]

A young psychology student is drawn into the dark and fearful world of a diabolic and mysterious App that starts to terrorize her, distributing compromising photographs, videos and text messages about herself and delves deeper and deeper into her personal life, flawlessly exposing all of her deepest secrets.

Absolutely worth singling out is Herman Witkam, the film's composer. Despite his lengthy credits, Witkam is not well known (at least not in America), but should be. He provides a score that is both unique and energizing, and fits the film's theme perfectly.

The general idea is brilliant, especially as apps become more advanced and our privacy gets thinner and thinner through social media. This is truly something that needs to be seen by more viewers.

Decent thriller with some good ideas

[TdSmth5 · 6/10 · 15 February 2015]

In the intro, a girl drives home. She turns on her cellphone and checks her voicemail. Suddenly she stops the car and walks in front of a train.

Next we meet Anna. She's a college student. She takes classes in neuropsychology and philosophy. She has a brother who was in an accident and is paralyzed but is starting to walk. The Dr. wants to implant him with a device close to the spine which will read his movements, predict what he might do next and stimulate the spine accordingly. And this can be monitored remotely. The brother would be the first person to get this implant.

Anna's best friend is Sophie, who one night invites Anna to a party. It turns out one of Anna's exes is now living in the complex and is throwing a party. Anna runs into him and things are a bit awkward. He's a computer genius trying to work on applications for medicine.

The day after the party, Anna's agrees to install an app called Iris. That's Siri backwards, or is Siri Iris backwards? The app offers to answer questions. But it also is a very annoying app, constantly demanding Anna's attention. During philosophy class covering Descartes, the app helps Anna get out of trouble. But suddenly a video of Sophie having sex at the party is sent to everyone coming from Anna. So Sophie is very angry at Anna. During philosophy class a video is shown on screen of the professor getting involved with a male student for better grades. The professor takes his life front of everyone, after he tells them to take out their phones and film it.

Anna decides to return the phone and get a new one. After she leaves the store, it explodes. On the new phone, Iris appears... Now Sophie becomes Iris's target and Anna has to rush to save her. Next is her brother. While watching a video of the party, Anna discovers who installed the app and when she confronts the person we find out what is going on.

If you're annoyed by people constantly messing around with their cellphones then App is going to be annoying at first, as the girls here, just like their real life counterparts, care about nothing more in life than paying attention to whatever is going in with their cellphones. There's a veiled criticism of that sort of life in this movie but it should be more overt. In fact Iris could be much more powerful given the capabilities that apps have these days, and integration with the 'internet of things' could make it far more deadly. Perhaps that something for part 2. Or a Hollywood remake. That part of the story is strong. But the problem here are the characters with little personality. Anna is pretty and smiles a lot, but aside from that she's not particularly interesting.

It's perhaps surprising that this theme is used for a movie first in the Netherlands. I imagine we'll be seeing lots more of these kinds of movies. Just wait until those POV-directors discover this idea...

App is a short movie with a good story, it just needed more development, more character development, more personality, a brighter look.

Cool tech, okay acting by Hannah, weak plot

[imdb-21685 · 3/10 · 22 April 2013]

I think the director got a little too much carried away with the second screen technology. Even though the film is targeted at teens, the plot is just too thin.

A few examples of this below, but mind the spoiler alert...

---spoiler alert--- It's absolutely not credible that a doctor would use software from some hacker to spy on people and put it into the body of a paralyzed person to make him walk again.

If it is so obvious that an app is taking over your life and killing people, anyone would simply turn of the phone, take out the battery or just throw the phone in the water. But no, our lead character decides to actively use the deadly phone throughout the movie.

Why would an app know how to kill someone who is swimming in a pool by turning on an analogue radio that is positioned next to a pool on top of a be able to turn on a radio on top of a scaffold?

If someone just threw 2 liters of boiling water over your face, would you be able to drive a car and chase another person, only 15 minutes later?

first second screen flick and it do works perfect

[trashgang · 7/10 · 11 May 2015]

I had seen App without the app you had to install, yes, this is an interactive flick. You have to install the app available in the stores for free to have a second-screen movie, the first one ever. I never tried to see it with the app because a lot of viewers did say on forums that the second screening wasn't working, guess why, the downloaded the movie. At a convention I found the Blu Ray and thought to give a try with the installed app.

And yes, it do work but be sure to turn off your sound and micro on and do pump up the volume of your surround, because the app do work on sound.

Is it worth seeing with the app, does it add something special towards the story. Towards the story it do add extra text or messages on your device. Here and there you will see another POV or you can see what is happening off-screen so yes it do works flawless.

And luckily enough the story isn't that bad at all. I can't say that it is really a horror, but I watched it with my 13 year old daughter and she jumped here and there throughout the flick. It offers suspense it clocks in at 73 minutes which is perfect for a story like this, nowhere I had a boring moment.

App is ideal for teenagers with their social media world.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Vision

[tedg · 24 December 2015]

This promises two things.

One is a lightweight system to connect an App with a movie. You download the free App and launch it. It listens to the film and synchronizes some images and a little video from time to time. This is a fantastic idea, but in this case the experience wasn't expanded. The main effect is that the movie is purportedly about an app with the same name that takes over your phone and life, potentially very spooky, like having Ringu in your VHS player.

The other promise is a new twist on the charmed evil object merged with the trope of an AI system capable of gathering from anywhere and reaching everywhere. We've seen too many from the AI side already, many of them so uninformed they cannot register. They may as well use genies.

That's something of what goes on here. In fact we have three horror notions merged.

The app in some instances has to be placed on the phone but in others not. It seems to be connected to everything that is online, but the appearance and behavior is unsophisticated.

It also is magical, turning on a radio that it knows will bounce into a pool; driving a truck into a car. Making a phone explode. Reading minds.

We also have the technologist conspirators, a supposedly bright student and a medical doctor who have placed this app here and there and also control it to some extent. There is no discernible logic to what we see, though. (The app kills the student.)

A typical high tech NSA conspiracy plot can use these without much question: the organization is evil and the tech is often out of control. Simple.

Some deaths occur to keep the app undisclosed. The app appears to spy on the student's old girlfriends. It is used to try to control prosthetics for the heroine's crippled brother…

One episode seems purely evil, revealing a completely unrelated gay encounter between student and professor. You've got to be pretty soft in the head to not let these key matters get in the way.

No redeeming content, despite the downloadable second screen experience.

Not a movie for which i am happy to pay GEZ for

[popigru · 3/10 · 7 June 2014]

The Plot is weak. Not a university in a world in which professors call their students with the first name. The live of students is shown in a not appropriate way. To much trying of showing them as party anmials. To much commercials for alkohol and smartphones. How the GEZ can do this? The first review has it all pointed out to a rightfull end: weak plot. And some other points. Why the girl had to clean out the hole in the window she just broke in? She had be quick to save her friend in the water before she is electrocuted. But she comes too late because she had to clean out the shards of glass. Unnecessary. A hipster like movie. Thats just bad. To concentrated upon modern technology must happen n a better way. And how did the militias killed the relatives of the Russian professor? Militia=Police. Or was he habilated in the second world war and the milita was in the regions controlled by wehrmacht? No sense at all.

Well-Done Look At Our Future?

[paulwetor · 7/10 · 22 May 2014]

The other reviewer felt this movie was far-fetched, but I feel just the opposite. It's like Hal 9000 and Siri and viruses and artificial intelligence all coming together. Even now, after I look up an item on Amazon.com, ads from that company follow me from web site to web site. Apps can control devices in your home. Add some AI apps to that and you might get an app that decides it's not really you trying to get into your garage. Throw in some spyware and you could be watched inside your own house.

Anybody ever have adware/spyware that would not allow itself to be deleted? My brother had one of those. Ever had your computer held hostage by someone who wanted money or else your files would be encrypted? A former co-worker had that happen.

Your cell phone tracks your location, your preferences, and your buying habits. Facebook wants access to your personal data, as does Google (which makes the Android software in your phone, how convenient). I'm not trying to be paranoid, but (spoiler alert) it was chilling when Iris (Siri spelled backwards) listed the date of a person's death while that person was still alive.

The irony is that this movie comes with an app that can run alongside the movie. But after watching the movie, there's NO WAY I'm downloading that app.

Average story about AI running amuck. And full of holes.

[webhead-97553 · 5/10 · 18 October 2023]

Average story about AI running amuck. And full of holes.

A) Why is Iris's source code on Anna's phone? And not a real computer or server?

B) How did Iris arrange for Liesbeth to step in front of a train, and why?

C) How can a phone blow-up a phone store? Even the Taliban needs explosives.

D) get a NEW sim card and number, dumba$$.

E) Was the source code on the sim card, and not on the phone that blew-up?

F) If Liesbeth's ghost took over Iris, why pick on Anna?

Average story about AI running amuck. And full of holes.

A) Why is Iris's source code on Anna's phone? And not a real computer?

App

[ZegMaarJus · 6/10 · 6 June 2020]

App is a Dutch Sci-Fi Thriller about Anna. Teacher (russian) got hacked and blackmailed on a screen with a sextape of him and a student. He shoots himself trough his mouth in the aula. Telephone store explodes after Anna bought a new telephone. Sophie got electrocuted at the swimming pool by this terrifying app 'Iris'. Finally Tim Maas is behind this app. Solid Dutch Sci-Fi Thriller with some great actors.

Stanley Kubrick

[bemyfriend-40184 · 4/10 · 24 January 2022]

In 1968, Stanley Kubrick made a milestone film, "2001: A Space Odessey. In that film, a computer develops autonomous intelligence, and decides to kill humans. At the time, this concept was original, and frightening. App is that same concept. The film was apparently made in Dutch, or some Scandanavian language, and dubbed in English. But that is not what detracts from the film. Rather, it is the unoriginality. It's not a bad film. It's actually pretty good. But yeah, unoriginal. Seen on Tubi, the free streaming site, which has indie films, foreign films, older major studio films, and now, live TV.

Pretty good thriller

[knightcrawler-1 · 8/10 · 7 May 2015]

The concept of the film is silly but the director pulls it off, creating a sense of tension and danger. It seems all too easy to say that the main character should just throw her phone away, WiFi/4G is everywhere and our personal data is being mined daily. Camera's pop up overnight. Society is becoming more and more reliant on technology even if it isn't wise.

OK so the villain in the movie is a little far fetched at this point in time but in 50 years who knows.

Other thoughts: The production value was pretty good which helped me enjoy the movie. I prefer films in 2.35/1 ratio and with a good sound mix. I hardly believe it was made for what it's estimated to cost.

Fun but nowhere near perfect.

[kaydeelane · 6/10 · 25 February 2015]

Great concept. Quite decent acting. Enjoyable chaos. The only real drawback is a lack of believable motive. The origin of the app and the way it behaves seem so utterly disconnected. The reason for the disconnect, as I understand it, and a way it could be fixed is written below.

---Spoiler---

The app - IRIS - simply doesn't make sense.

I would buy the fact that it began as spy-ware and was possessed by Liesbeth's ghost or simply became unhinged after witnessing her death. I could definitely see this turning IRIS into a malevolent, possessive, controlling app. I could also see the app seeking revenge.

But what I find very difficult to swallow is that the same app that was used as spy-ware is knowingly utilized as an implant to help Ana's brother walk again. How is that technology linked, exactly? Why would a doctor be involved with implanting something so dubious? His hacker acquaintance doesn't give the impression of someone who would volunteer his tech for charity, and no mention of money is made. The connection between the doctor, hacker, app and implant is highly irrational.

I feel like this inconsistency would have been very easy to amend by simply claiming that the app was separate from the implant, and only learned to control it as a way of controlling Ana. Add a little more indication of why the app fixated on Ana and it would become a solid plot.

And if revenge against the hacker/Liesbeth's stalker was IRIS's motivation, then why did IRIS peacefully exist on his phone so long? Needs some explanation. I can think of a dozen potential ones.

---End Spoiler---

In any case, I enjoyed the split screen technology and the potential unhinged apps offer as a plot device. If you have some time to kill, I say to give this movie a watch just for kicks.

Update was terrible

[tpopshakur · 22 November 2017]

I enjoy the content. I think the app is well done. I do not appreciate the notifications that were activated from an update I downloaded and installed. I have since deleted it. Business ethics are lost on consumers now. Just let me put lipstick on before you do this again, I want to look pretty for you when you **** me.

Are 'apps' for your smart phone all good? Maybe not!

[TxMike · 27 February 2015]

I found this movie on Netflix streaming. An interesting concept, it drew me in and I was rewarded with a quite novel movie. The only difficulty is the Dutch language with English subtitles, sometimes the dialog is quick and it is challenging to both follow the picture and read the words. Also some of the concepts are a bit obscure and require some guessing.

But I enjoyed it as something quite different and entertaining.

The first scene sets the stage but doesn't really give us much clue, until later when she is talked about. A young lady is going home, checking her phone, (hands-free) for messages. She gets a couple, stops her car just over train tracks, then walks back to stand on the tracks and get killed by the commuter train. A sinister warning.

The star is very pretty Hannah Hoekstra (looking a bit like Emma Watson and Natalie Morales of TV) as college student Anna Rijnders. She rides a Honda motorcycle, it looks like it may be one the the classic 4-cylinder models like the CB400.

She gets a mysterious 'app' on her phone that at first appears very useful, you can ask it things and you get answers. But it turns out to have a mind of its own, it videos people in private moments, and those videos appear all over the media, as just one example. Much of the movie is about Anna and others trying to get rid of the app.

At the end it appears they have but, as Anna and a friend board a flight to Spain for holiday, we see a cockpit screen and guess what shows up? Yes, the 'app'. Will they ever make it there?