‘Don’t Log Off’ is Effective in the End, but It Takes Patience to Get There: A Review

The ending might not be worth the time to get there for many viewers.

Magic Symbol: Thorn Rune
Don’t Log Off began streaming on July 15th, 2025.

Table of Contents

What is Don’t Log Off About?

Don't Log Off
The evening begins with drinks and smiles.

Don’t Log Off is a screenlife thriller about friends investigating the disappearance of their mutual friend during a video chat.

The majority of the story takes place in Los Angeles on March 21st, 2020. Sam’s friends throw her a surprise party via video chat, with all but two of them calling in from different locations. Shortly after the party begins, Sam leaves her laptop to go answer the door. Her camera is still streaming, but Sam doesn’t return. Most of her friends begin to worry, so they try to find out what happened. As their investigation gets closer to the truth, more members of the group disappear one by one.

Don’t Log Off was written and directed by Brandon and Garrett Baer. Kara Royster stars as Katy, the person whose computer screen we’re watching the movie from (this isn’t a spoiler, we can see her name on the screen at the beginning of the movie). Her friends are played by Ariel Winter, Khylin Rhambo, Luke Benward, Ashley Argota, and Jack Griffo. Brielle Barbusca plays the birthday girl, Sam. Also appearing are Sterling Beaumon, Kenny Ridwan, Nick Lehmann, Stephen Spencer, and Katie Maringer.

Don’t Log Off Review

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Moments like this, when someone is in danger, are nicely suspenseful.

As a whole, Don’t Log Off is very average. There are some really good moments, but most of those happen very late in the story. Getting to that point might be a slog for some viewers. The pace in the first two-thirds of the movie is rather sluggish, and sometimes it feels like the plot is barely going anywhere.

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Adam gets muted a few times, which is a relief every time. He’s supposed to be the character who gets everyone else riled up, but he does his job a little too well.

The scenes where people go missing are well done, but in-between is a lot of arguing. The arguing, and the two characters who start the arguments by flat-out denying that anything bad is happening, did get on my nerves at times. I’m usually pretty patient with that kind of thing, but it gets rough. The arguments are there for a purpose, but it’s still rough. Also, the way certain characters claim it’s all a prank just to deny everything that’s happening gets old fast, and they keep doing it well into the story.

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Katy (pictured) and Brian are the most level-headed among their friends.

Also, this is one of those movies where every character finds a way to intentionally isolate themselves in a dangerous place even when people directly question their decision to go off on their own. Frankly, it becomes laughable when person after person goes, alone, to search the place where others have gone missing while everyone else watches through the chat. I can’t say too much more for fear of spoilers, but the choices that lead to each disappearance (other than the first) are baffling. There are other weird decisions scattered throughout as well, but towards the end that happens less often.

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This isn’t a supernatural movie like Host. It’s all based around abduction and the knowledge that people in the area have been killed.

The last twenty-ish minutes of Don’t Log Off are really good. The remaining friends start coming together in a logical and satisfying way. The final confrontations are decently tense. And the resolution is nicely done (even if it does have a sudden stop). For me, the wait to get to that good ending is worth it, but I’m a pretty big fan of screenlife movies. I expect there to be downtime, and if there isn’t any, it feels weird.

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The screen occasionally gets very busy, but I like that in screenlife films.

I will say that I prefer a more realistic approach to computer screen movies. Don’t Log Off uses zooms, pans, and added music to artificially guide the viewer to what they’re supposed to see and hear. I prefer screenlife movies to appear like I’m literally looking at a computer screen. No artificial movement, no obvious editing, no non-diegetic sound. I got used to the screen and sound manipulation in Don’t Log Off, but I still would have preferred none of it.

Rating and Recommendation

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It might be worth waiting until Don’t Log Off makes its way onto a free or subscription streaming site.

Star Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Don’t Log Off has a decent ending, but the journey to get there will probably lose many people. I would recommend this movie for patient fans of computer screen movies who particularly enjoy movies like Unfriended: Dark Web (2018).

Don’t Log Off is currently streaming as a digital rental and purchase on Amazon Prime Video.

Further Reading

Meet The Author

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema.