FROM THE ORIGINAL CINEMASTERS ARCHIVE
I’ve seen the cover art for this film so many times that I finally had to give it a go. I legitimately judged this one by it’s cover because had I known it was a found footage movie, I very well may have passed on it. I’m not traditionally a fan of the genre. I know there are hidden gems here and there but the market got saturated, much like the zombie fanfare and once the waters were muddied, it just became easier to avoid them all than to sift. And I was fine with that really. I had no real affinity for found footage anyways. It was an interesting vehicle for storytelling once up on a time. But I don’t necessarily find it to be a stable means to create a narrative all that often. So had I known that was how this movie was comprised, I probably would have walked on by, and that would have been a big mistake.
The overall story is based on a documentary being filmed about an elderly woman suffering from the initial stages of Alzheimer’s disease. It’s a video representation of a PHD thesis for our young director who has chosen Deborah to focus in on and chronicle her foray into the woes of involuntary degradation of the neural network. Mia helm’s the film with Gavin and Luis as her crew. Sarah is Deborah’s daughter who is the connective tissue between the story and the crew. Hard up for funds to keep their home, Sarah convinces her mother to participate in order to keep the proverbial lights on. Things kick off a little rocky with some generally awkward social interactions as the crew first shows up. But things seem to iron themselves out relatively quickly and they all find a good rhythm fairly simply that clicks well. However, just as quickly as they all seem to gel, we also start to see the fringe elements that will only become more pronounced as the film progresses.
What they do a really great job of doing throughout this film is blurring the line between true dementia and something more sinister at play. It’s not that it’s overtly ambiguous all the time. There are certainly things that seem firmly in the camp of mental decay and others that are definitively demonic. But in bringing these two threads together and knitting them together in one cohesive fabric, the story is filled with a great deal more depth than you would assume is going to be present. And the tension between these two elements tugging back and forth at you builds an anxious dichotomy that drives the film in remarkable fashion. There is a scene somewhat early on in the movie where Deborah is being filmed from afar in the garden, behaving slightly off. The camera pans off of her for a moment and once it cuts back, Deborah is right there in absolute jump scare fashion. I’d like to meet the woman, advanced in years, who could cover the distance she did in that span of time. Even to actually behold it, and not simply shocked at her immediate presence, would still be a shocking event, in and of itself. Throughout the first half of the film, these kinds of instances increase in frequency. They appear as if they could be episodes increasing in severity as Deborah’s cognitive functions. However, as the movie progresses, the sinister nature of just what is happening begins to surface more and more. The blur between possible and impossible deteriorates and the things that Deborah is doing and the things that are happening to her become unmistakably non-medical. The slow burn tension is actually enhanced significantly by the found footage format. I know, I was just as surprised as anyone else. But it really worked fantastically.
What I have to be sincerely complimentary of in this film as well, is the story building. And I’m not necessarily talking about how we see the characters interacting and what we are watching unfold. It’s my opinion that the lore used as the backdrop for the events as they are brought to the foreground of the narrative is married so well throughout the entire film. There are elements of connective tissue within the visuals that correlate to the story and a true element of intentionality behind what we know is going on and what we discover as the film progresses. I’m not simply talking about an interesting tale being told in real time. There are sweeping segments of arcs within the story that are carrying you to visuals we are seeing in low and high light. There are subtle nods to thematic pieces that fit seamlessly into the bigger picture as we continue to step back and take in all that’s going on in the movie. There are misdirects and there are red herrings. There are things that are frightening just for the sake of it and others that are entirely deliberate and necessary to string together an unfurling plot in terrific motion. As the movie wore on, I really did find myself immersed in this world they had brought to life and it makes the scares that much more tangible. An unsettling stare or an eerie grin bears so much more weight in the story when you are emotionally attached to the fullness of the tale. And by putting you in that found footage seat of seeing it in first person brings the terror directly to you and confronts you in a way that I don’t know I’ve necessarily witnessed before. It’s not that it’s some tour de force of filmmaking that’s unlike anything else. It’s just done with such a deftness of hand where others simply crash about like a vengeful avalanche.
I think what works out so well with this film is the fact that everything works in such a harmony. A lot of the time I feel like found footage movies rely on the characters behaving erratically but also unnaturally. There’s a dedication to whatever the narrative is but it’s not believable. One of my favorite elements of the entire movie is when Gavin, the crew member seen on screen, is finally fed up with everything he’s seeing and leaves the production mid-movie. He’s the actual on screen representation of the “GET OUT OF THERE!” sentiment and I thought that was brilliant. I found myself cheering him on because so often that’s what disconnects me from horror movies. Sure you have to suspend belief for the supernatural things that take place. But when people act counterintuitive to what I know would be a consensus behavior, it feels forced. When you’re screaming “DON’T GO IN THERE!” and the person does precisely that, you get frustrated. The less connection you have to the players in the story, the easier it is to be taken out of the entire experience. And that’s what a horror movie is. It’s an experience. So many times in my late teens and 20’s I could sit through endless horror movies with nary a jump. I’m not impervious to it by any means. And it’s certainly not some poor attempt at machismo. It’s just that a great deal of the standard jump scares are cheap and ineffective. I’m not actively trying to outsmart them, it’s just that they aren’t meant to be thoughtful. They’re meant to be abrupt. That’s it. That’s not scary. It’s an autoresponse to a stimuli. It’s why the doctor hits your knee with that little rubber triangle when you’re. He’s checking a reflex. That’s all. Shocking stimuli comprised of sensory overload elicits a response. We label it scary because of the setting. But when that’s all you have to offer, it’s an empty gesture. As soon as I’m taken out of the experience then I can’t get back in. And many a time, I find myself unable to get into the experience in the first place due to unlikable character tropes and low hanging horror fruit. But when I traded that in for the horror video game, I found it was a whole new experience. I was linked to the on screen character. It was a fascinating development. I could clearly see that it was an avatar on a screen. When something jumped out to grab my pixelated person it wasn’t grabbing me, but it felt very much like it was. The jump scares became terrifying. Even in late 90’s graphics. The original Resident Evil on Playstation gave me higher blood pressure than anything Freddy or Jason could ever accomplish. It’s that experience. This movie puts you back in that driver’s seat. That’s why the scares are so tangible.
I’m still trying to decide as to whether or not this movie ends up on my shelf. I have even reminded myself now of many considerable reasons it warrants subsequent rewatches. I think my overall problem is that while I clearly enjoy doing my 31 days of horror this time of year, a great portion of the time I’m nearly entirely detached from the horror genre as a whole. It’s not that I’ve moved on from it. I just recently acquired the entire Nightmare series on 4K. I’m still invested in all things spooky. I think my appetite for it has curbed a bit, however. I know it seems against the grain because I’m squarely in my second week of a horror movie a day diet. But this is not the norm. When Ron got me to watch Weapons, I was very pleasantly surprised and didn’t hesitate to preorder. After checking out the finale of the Conjuring series, I promptly added it to my cart on Amazon. So it’s not an aversion to the craft as a whole, but even in the wake of remarkable films, I find I just do not have as strong a pull towards the need to own. And I think on a film like this, while the jury is still out as to whether or not Deborah takes up some shelf space, I don’t feel comfortable using that as a determiner of the value of this film. Regardless of how that conundrum snuffs out, this is an exquisite film, especially in the found footage sub-genre. I do not notate that as a caveat. This film firmly stands on it’s own two feet and does not need compensation for anything. The more I think about it, the closer I want to get to a 9 rating. In fact, I think I’m actually just going to call it at an 8.9/10. I don’t feel wholeheartedly good about hitting it with a 9 so I’ll go as close as possible. This movie really hit the target for me. And to do such a masterful job via a style of filmmaking that I really do abhor in many instances only adds to it’s prowess in my estimation. It’s not perfect. It’s got it’s flaws here and there. For once, I find little value in highlighting anything that stands out as detriment. I endorse this film. I’ve passed it over so many times before and it’s unfortunate because it’s so well made that I wish I’d enjoyed it years ago. But regardless of that, it was perfect for day 9 of this year’s fright fest. It’s currently streaming on a number of platforms. I watched it on prime but I believe it’s also free on several that do not have a monthly subscription fee as well. It’s a very accessible film and if you’ve not seen it already and are looking for a new haunt this October, I will eagerly point you in the direction of this film. So until tomorrow, kids, I’ll catch you on the flip side.