‘The 6th Friend’ is a slasher horror about six women who gather for a weekend together in a secluded house, five years after a traumatic, violent experience they shared at their college graduation party. While they’re all still trying to deal with their trauma, the past comes back to haunt them and what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away ends up being a fight for survival.
In terms of practical effects, editing and the overall style, the film succeeds – I particularly enjoyed the drug scenes at the beginning which used good effects without over-doing it. However, the problem is the pacing which feels very slow, the plot twist is predictable, and although there is obviously meant to be a feminist message that director Letia Clouston and co-writer/star Jamie Bernadette wanted to get through (sometimes a bit on-the-nose with a speech about how women need to support each other), it feels overshadowed by the fact that most of the women get murdered and their journey to empowerment is ended.
Despite the actresses being talented, none of the characters really stand out – although I liked Monique Rosario as Becca the most and couldn’t help but wish she could be the main protagonist, she didn’t get given much to do. Bernadette’s character, Joey, in particular was very bland. Furthermore, it feels like the film wastes too much time with trying to make the group bond by having scenes of dialogue that are way longer than they need to be, and it just ends up being frustrating. The writing is the element that could have done with the most improvement; it fails to create any suspense as any possibility of the stalker being some sort of supernatural entity is ruled out, and as I said before, the reveal becomes very obvious and therefore doesn’t have the effect it seems to be going for.
Overall, the beginning of ‘The 6th Friend’ showed some promise but it lacks suspense, and the writing is its biggest problem. Despite having a talented cast, the dialogue just falls flat, and it spends too much time trying to prove to you that this group of women are friends rather than getting to the point.
In terms of practical effects, editing and the overall style, the film succeeds – I particularly enjoyed the drug scenes at the beginning which used good effects without over-doing it. However, the problem is the pacing which feels very slow, the plot twist is predictable, and although there is obviously meant to be a feminist message that director Letia Clouston and co-writer/star Jamie Bernadette wanted to get through (sometimes a bit on-the-nose with a speech about how women need to support each other), it feels overshadowed by the fact that most of the women get murdered and their journey to empowerment is ended.
Despite the actresses being talented, none of the characters really stand out – although I liked Monique Rosario as Becca the most and couldn’t help but wish she could be the main protagonist, she didn’t get given much to do. Bernadette’s character, Joey, in particular was very bland. Furthermore, it feels like the film wastes too much time with trying to make the group bond by having scenes of dialogue that are way longer than they need to be, and it just ends up being frustrating. The writing is the element that could have done with the most improvement; it fails to create any suspense as any possibility of the stalker being some sort of supernatural entity is ruled out, and as I said before, the reveal becomes very obvious and therefore doesn’t have the effect it seems to be going for.
Overall, the beginning of ‘The 6th Friend’ showed some promise but it lacks suspense, and the writing is its biggest problem. Despite having a talented cast, the dialogue just falls flat, and it spends too much time trying to prove to you that this group of women are friends rather than getting to the point.
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