We’re all reasonably/rationally/rightfully concerned about AI being the end of us all, but Chris Marrs Piliero’s Black Mirror adjacent tech-thriller Appofeniacs wants you to remember that the trolls who weaponize these new advancements are who we should really be afraid of. Presented like an anthology film of interconnected stories, this 5-minutes-from-the-future PSA deals with hacked bank accounts, deepfake extortion, and grizzly brutal murder all thanks to a couple quick clicks on a keyboard. Needless to say, if you’re already sweating at the prospect of never trusting anyone or anything ever again, your worst fears are about to be validated in the most gruesome ways possible.
Before TikTok we all got a lot of important information from one key source. I am of course talking about bristle boards and oral presentations in classrooms. And in keeping with that grand tradition, Piliero’s debut feature begins with a tried-and-true opener: a textbook definition. Oxford English dictionary defines Apophenia as 1. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful patterns between unrelated or random things; 2. Confirmation bias; 3. Paranoia- which sure sounds like the baseline feeling I have every single damn day of the week thanks to my internet. From there it’s a nonstop Plinko board of destruction as characters bounce in and out of each other’s timelines like life-ruining wrecking balls.
“Your worst AI fears are about to be validated…”
In one timeline a reckless troll (played by Aaron Holliday, Cocaine Bear) explains to an acquaintance (Jermaine Fowler, Sting) that he recently found a website that can make the most convincing deep fakes you have ever seen in your entire life. Elsewhere, for reasons we don’t yet understand, a jealous boyfriend confronts his girlfriend about a sex tape she made with their mutual friend, an uber driver gets roped into a Joshua Tree threesome laced with PCP, a weed shop employee (Harley Bronwyn, Scream Therapy) gets cancelled after a video of her being a Karen goes viral, and the world’s most intense cosplay designer (Sean Gunn, Agnes) sharpens a life-sized working replica of [REDACTED] unaware that he’s just had a six figure target put on his back. As unconnected as it all seems, there is a method to this terrifyingly plausible madness.
Like Richard Linklater’s Slacker for the internet age (or Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia but with less frogs) Chris Marrs Piliero’s Appofeniacs weaves stories together in really clever ways, while still giving them the space to exist as their own little islands of digital disaster. While we’re at it, let’s also throw this year’s Freaky Tales into that comparison stew, and not just because they both have surprisingly gory finales. Ok fine, because they both have super fun, crazy gory finales. yayyyy!
“Appofeniacs is a worst-case scenario that is surely being played out somewhere in the world this very second.”
Appofeniacs is a worst-case scenario that is surely being played out somewhere in the world this very second. I get emails constantly from people claiming to be spying on me through my webcam, and I know it’s only a matter of time before I start getting weird videos of my digital doppelganger doing all kinds of blackmailable shit. Chris Marrs Piliero is first and foremost a clever storyteller…but he might also be the ghost of Christmas Future, here to warn us that it’s too late to change our ways and we better get ready for the Deepfake Doomsday that’s definitely right around the corner. This is how the world ends, not with a bang but an AI prompt. Good luck everybody!
Chris Marrs Piliero’s Appofeniacs celebrated its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage of the festival, and let us know if you have any tips on how to prevent the AI-pocalypse over in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord!
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