Normally I'm not a big fan of found footage movies as they can be very predictable. I was very pleased to find this movie NOT predictable! I enjoyed seeing various types of cameras used as well as seeing the footage itself vary between type of camera. Some found footage movies suffer from having different cameras yet they all look exactly the same.
Another enjoyable item was not seeing the cameraman, Ford, for a big chunk of time. We knew who he was, he interacted with the other characters, but was never seen until about 15 minutes into the film and it was mainly on accident. After that the viewer began to see him more often but it was nice to have that extra mystery.
The only problem I had with the film is that there were a few opportunities where a small change could have made the scene from a great scene to a fantastic scene. I don't want to go into details as to not spoil anything, but one involves the timing of a practical joke that could have been moved up to get the most jump from the viewer. As the joke was laid out in the film it worked great for the scene and got the desired effect! One thing that was impressive was how each of the character was fleshed out in ways that aren't shoved down the viewer's throat. Main example is we get a very small snippet of Ford on the phone that completely shifts how you can perceive his character, and the scene itself wasn't important to the plot and could even be viewed as an unimportant scene, yet it worked perfectly for what we knew about Ford.
The acting itself was great as usual with most of director Couto's films. Erin R Ryan did a great job in her role as an eccentric medium. Joni Durian was able to capture the essence of documentarians with a wide-eyed look that pushes extra emphasis to key words.
Another enjoyable item was not seeing the cameraman, Ford, for a big chunk of time. We knew who he was, he interacted with the other characters, but was never seen until about 15 minutes into the film and it was mainly on accident. After that the viewer began to see him more often but it was nice to have that extra mystery.
The only problem I had with the film is that there were a few opportunities where a small change could have made the scene from a great scene to a fantastic scene. I don't want to go into details as to not spoil anything, but one involves the timing of a practical joke that could have been moved up to get the most jump from the viewer. As the joke was laid out in the film it worked great for the scene and got the desired effect! One thing that was impressive was how each of the character was fleshed out in ways that aren't shoved down the viewer's throat. Main example is we get a very small snippet of Ford on the phone that completely shifts how you can perceive his character, and the scene itself wasn't important to the plot and could even be viewed as an unimportant scene, yet it worked perfectly for what we knew about Ford.
The acting itself was great as usual with most of director Couto's films. Erin R Ryan did a great job in her role as an eccentric medium. Joni Durian was able to capture the essence of documentarians with a wide-eyed look that pushes extra emphasis to key words.