Strangers become friends after hitting each other

You would think a video of people slapping each other in the face would be both confronting and upsetting, but this short viral film is strangely endearing.

'The Slap' is made as a parody of 'First Kiss', an online film phenomenon that attracted 86 million YouTube views by showing complete strangers kissing each other.

Remarkably, this new video posted online yesterday shows complete strangers becoming friends after striking each other in the face.

"I gathered acquaintances, friends both casual and close, paired them randomly, put them in a void, and asked them to hit each other in the face," creator Max Landis wrote on YouTube.

"No one was pressured, and everyone was hit as hard as they asked to be hit."

Included among the strangers is former child actor Haley Joel Osment, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Sixth Sense.

Osment takes the blows to the face with good humour.

The video ends with the participants laughing, kissing and embracing.

"What a hell of a way to make a friend," one of them says while shaking hands with his new buddy.

"(It's a) pleasure, dude."

The video was created by a group called the Content Monsters.

Author: Nick Pearson. Approving editor: Kieran Campbell
Source: Max Landis