I’ll cop to taking some selfies; everyone does it. It was only inevitable that it would soon become the subject of a horror film: after all, it’s an exploration of the self and how others perceive us (not to mention what we consider to be our ideals of both beauty and the self). Two pieces that feature very heavily in horror, and rather relevant in this day and age. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the practice is entirely bad when used in moderation – millennials are to be praised for their self-love, if only because, so often, people have trouble expressing what it is about themselves that is both beautiful and deserving of affection. We’re often made to feel that it’s only polite to be self-depricating, and the practice can be used to help embrace what’s good about your exterior. However, if taken to an extreme, it can be bad. So bearing that in mind, here’s #NoFilter, which hails from the Phillippines.

Director/writer/editor Luigi Rosario did a fine job with this one. It starts off normal enough – a young woman taking some pictures as she goes about her morning routine. But then – and this is the hallmark of horror done right – something odd gets thrown into the mix. One tiny little kink, and it goes from ordinary to nightmarish. I loved that this one didn’t have to rely on words, and that the focus really was on the imagery/pictures. We got to see the young woman first, then what her obsession was doing to her, then the complete breakdown before the cycle began again. Which begs the question: in the end, are we all just really wearing masks when we present a photograph of ourselves to the world?