In 2017, Buzz Feed artist Adam Ellis made the first tweet about the ghost child with a crushed head haunting him. The tweets referred to the child as “Dear David,” and quickly, it went viral as he updated his followers regularly about the spooky events. It didn’t take long for Buzz Feed and Lionsgate to acquire the right to his story and adapted it for a movie set to be released this October.
As someone who followed the original “Dear David” thread as the story unfolded, I already had prejudice towards the movie. I believed it couldn’t hold up against the spookiness of Adam’s tale. Plus, a recent poster made me lose some interest in the movie because, frankly, it looked super cheesy, making me assume the movie would be too. Well, you know what they say about assuming, “It makes an ass out of you and me.” I decided to watch it anyway, prepared to write a scathing review.
The movie opens with a boy being bullied online. We are then introduced to Adam, a man with issues who spends his days drawing cartoons for Buzz Feed. He’s distant, sarcastic, and struggles with his identity, sexuality, and life. After responding to a troll, telling them to “DIAF” (die in a fire), he gets a message from a mysterious account listed as “Dear David.” That’s when his life takes a dramatic turn as he begins to experience paranormal activity. It escalates whenever he asks the mysterious account a question, leading to absolute terror.
Augustus Prew played Adam Ellis. Pew gives an excellent performance. He captures the fear Ellis displayed in his posts and makes the character easy to empathize with.
The true story was manipulated in a couple of scenes, but that was necessary to expand the story and add scares, so we’ll let that slide. I appreciate that director John McPhail ensured that the movie featured some of the most minor details, like Adam’s pictures, the original sketch of David, how the apartment looked, and Adam’s cats and their strange behavior. As a cat mom of five, I thought that was a nice detail. McPhail sat down with me for an interview to discuss the story and bringing it to life. I recommend you check it out.
I was worried about how they would depict David, played by young actor Cameron Nicoll, because of the spooky photos from Adam’s original thread, but they nailed it. Both the human version and the ghost look great. It’s really unnerving to see a kid with his head bashed in, and even more disturbing after we learn what happened to the boy.
Yes, it is a horror movie, but at its heart, it sends a message about accepting who you are and speaks on bullying and trolls. Let’s face it: trolls are a real problem on social media. People really should find a better way to spend their time.
I do have one major issue with the movie. Well, not with the movie itself. My problem is with the trailer. It gives away far too much. It’s something that happens all too often these days, and I don’t understand why studios continue to do it. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, I urge you to skip it.
If you are looking for scares, this movie has them. I even jumped a couple of times. That’s saying something. It also builds real tension that leads to unnerving and disturbing moments.
The movie somehow wormed its way under the skin of this horror veteran, and I couldn’t be more pleased. In a time when movies have become cheesy and lazily written, Dear David delivers the goods, giving us a movie that’s both emotional and spooky.
Dear David, it should definitely be added to your “must-see” list. The good news is you don’t have to wait long. Dear David will haunt theaters and arrive On Demand and Digital on Friday, October 13, 2023.
