The kaos brief is a found footage movie dealing with extraterrestrials. The acting wasn't terrible but the writing was..the problem I have with it is the whole premise of aliens or (men in black with unusual fedoras) just want the footage from skylars YouTube channel down and that's why they're agitated. Are you gonna tell me that aliens who are technologically superior travel lightyears away to our planet and they can't even get a YouTube channel taken down; furthermore that our government couldn't just easily delete stuff from their harddrive from miles away. I know it's just a movie but they could of done a lot better. Another example of a movie that could of been better but didn't take the time polishing the story.
15 Reviews
Lacklustre briefing
TheLittleSongbird10 September 2018
Was drawn into seeing 'The KAOS Brief', with a cool poster/cover, a promising trailer, an intriguing premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.
It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was underwhelming considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'The KAOS Brief, with so many huge flaws and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is not a lot to recommend in 'The KAOS Brief'.
Lets start with the positives.. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, and is surprisingly well shot in places, although some parts nauseate too.
'The KAOS Brief' also starts off promisingly and gets to the point quicker than many other genre films made on a low-budget instead of focusing too long on one element, it does intrigue and it does have creepiness. The acting was surprisingly not too awful, not exceptional but there is some competence here.
Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. The characters generally are too sketchy and it is yet another film to have some frustrating decision-making.
Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and too many situations are hokey.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with many dry conversations that stagnate the pace and don't amount to much, while the pace and film drags on forever after such an intriguing start and doesn't recover. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so afterthought-like and with no sense of how to end it. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.
A lot of 'The KAOS Brief' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling.
There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the atmosphere is unimaginative, bland are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too and a lot of weirdness and dreariness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting.
Overall, lacklustre but could have been worse. 4/10 Bethany Cox
It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was underwhelming considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'The KAOS Brief, with so many huge flaws and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is not a lot to recommend in 'The KAOS Brief'.
Lets start with the positives.. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, and is surprisingly well shot in places, although some parts nauseate too.
'The KAOS Brief' also starts off promisingly and gets to the point quicker than many other genre films made on a low-budget instead of focusing too long on one element, it does intrigue and it does have creepiness. The acting was surprisingly not too awful, not exceptional but there is some competence here.
Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. The characters generally are too sketchy and it is yet another film to have some frustrating decision-making.
Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and too many situations are hokey.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with many dry conversations that stagnate the pace and don't amount to much, while the pace and film drags on forever after such an intriguing start and doesn't recover. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so afterthought-like and with no sense of how to end it. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.
A lot of 'The KAOS Brief' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling.
There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the atmosphere is unimaginative, bland are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too and a lot of weirdness and dreariness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting.
Overall, lacklustre but could have been worse. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Creative plot, terrible execution
lindseyebranch23 April 2021
One cool thing
DebraIonaVogel28 April 2020
Four teenagers; twin brother and sister Skylar and Dakota and their partners, go on a weekend campout so our protaginist, Skylar (an avid Youtuber), can do a vlog.
They see UFOs and Skylar uploads the video to his channel.
Almost immediately, he's contacted by someone named Indrid Cold who tries to warn him off about posting such things.
Clearly someone watched the X-files. Here comes the surveillance, men in black, lost time, that thing where a character stands still watching the others sleep for long periods of time and the discovery of items implanted just below the skin. And more....
At some point, we learn the kids have JUST turned 17 and I wish the filmmakers would have chosen 18. The actors are clearly not teenagers. We hear Skylar and his boyfriend talk about making a sex tape together more than once. So, yeah...18 would have been a tad better, less cringy.
The one cool thing is how the name Indrid Cold is just dropped on us. If you know the reference, that's fun.
The plot becomes ridiculous. I had hope but ended up shaking my head whilst muttering, "Really?"
They see UFOs and Skylar uploads the video to his channel.
Almost immediately, he's contacted by someone named Indrid Cold who tries to warn him off about posting such things.
Clearly someone watched the X-files. Here comes the surveillance, men in black, lost time, that thing where a character stands still watching the others sleep for long periods of time and the discovery of items implanted just below the skin. And more....
At some point, we learn the kids have JUST turned 17 and I wish the filmmakers would have chosen 18. The actors are clearly not teenagers. We hear Skylar and his boyfriend talk about making a sex tape together more than once. So, yeah...18 would have been a tad better, less cringy.
The one cool thing is how the name Indrid Cold is just dropped on us. If you know the reference, that's fun.
The plot becomes ridiculous. I had hope but ended up shaking my head whilst muttering, "Really?"
I don't want it discussed
df420515 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Okay, so some kids go camping and wind up finding some stacked rocks. Nope, nothing familiar there.
Oh, where to begin? Well, let's meet our protagonists. We have what I'm calling the Prime protagonist; a vlogger. We then have his boyfriend, his sister, and his sister's boyfriend. While I appreciate that none of these characters fit any stereotype or trope (there's no brainless blonde or macho jock for example) this unfortunately leaves them with very little personality. While this works well for selling them as the 'average' people, it doesn't give much room to hang your hat on.
So our little foursome is taking a camping trip in the woods together because--uh--oh look, a bird! Naturally, being a vlogger, our Prime wants to record everything. Well, thank god for him, otherwise we would have missed the thrilling unpacking, hiking, crashing the drone, etc. Seriously, the whole camping section of the movie feels mostly like filler material. Yes, I know it's supposed to set up the premise/conflict; but they could have just as easily seen the lights in the sky from their backyard and cut out the middle-man. Oh yes, our group spots strange lights in the sky while they're camping. Of course, being the coolest thing ever for his vlog, our vlogger decides to film it off-center while breaking to get close-ups of his friends. After the next night (I think?) they find stacks of rocks piled up outside their tents. They film this as evidence of the 'aliens/ufos' despite the fact that it proves absolutely nothing to the vlog audience, as they could have done it themselves in the night.
Well, back to our daily lives of---constantly being in the same house together. I know that two are siblings but the boyfriends seem to almost be living there. Since we're told that at least two characters are only 17, this is a bit questionable (as is their talk about making a sex tape). So our Prime uploads the videos and strange things start happening. He's contacted on a Skype-stand-in and warned that he's now brought himself to 'their' attention and they 'don't want these things discussed'. Of course the Skype guy contacts him without the program offering "This person wants to contact you, will you accept?" Then our group gets a visit from the Men In Black (No, not Will Smith or Chris Hemsworth).
This is where the movie really starts falling apart. The problem falls into the 'suspension of disbelief' category. Want to do aliens? Fine, audiences don't mind that. Want to do a conspiracy film? Okay, you can get away with it, provided you do it well. But this whole MIB plot angle is a mess. First. Why would they care? Your video proves nothing! It's lights in the sky! We see those on news reports for God's sake! Our un-named (and un-explained!) Skype person says the MIB doesn't want these things discussed. Really? Better shut down all of YouTube then! Seriously, go search for 'UFO footage' or 'crypitds', 'aliens', 'bigfoot', etc, and see how many results you get. You could spend the next few years sorting through them. But yeah, your blurry footage of lights is just so amazingly undeniable it warrants the MIB's attention----right.
At this point the movie veers more into a conspiracy film where "They're everywhere!" Um, again--why? They're expanding massive resources just because you're so super special awesome? The cops can't even follow murderers around 24/7, but these guys will follow all four of you around all the time? Well, we went to the police, but then we saw the MIB with the police! Well, we tried one thing and we're all out of ideas! Better hole up in our house and complain about it! Evidently all the power of the Secret Government can be stopped by a locked door!
So, more weird things happen. Our protagonists lose time, find implants in their bodies, see mysterious balls of light, and hear each other screaming when they are actually asleep. But the real icing on the cake? They're in their basement/laundry area and they hear a radio (and its coming from inside the house!) They discover that there is a false wall in their basement/laundry with a mysterious set-up. Well, good thing mom and dad left that running while they were on vacation. Or did the aliens turn it on? OOOH (Cue X-files theme). It's also nice that we've never noticed it our entire lives. So we're shown a video of the brother and sister being taken to a (hanger?) as children where they see an alien. This was somewhat alluded to by the Skype person earlier. "I know you don't remember a portion of your life" or something to that affect. Well---then how does Skype-guy? This isn't a case where either sibling notices a huge chunk of their lives were gone, they don't remember not-remembering! The sister says she had some vague memories of it, but chalked it up to bad dreams. But don't worry, these tapes aren't explained. Neither is Skype-Indrid, or how he knows about anything.
The movie rushes headlong into any ending it can find---the end. Oh wait, forgot to mention our titular bookends. Apparently this whole thing is some underground rebellion posting it to "expose the truth". "We're hiding from the government---but feel free to browse our website's gift shop!" It's really weird and out of place. Honestly it seems tacked on to provide the movie a title. It's as if they couldn't think of a title and when the found one they just added these bookends to help it make sense. We're told that our protagonists disappeared and that no reports have been filed and that they're families are also missing. How do you know? No reports have been filed! Assuming that each protagonist had two parents--that's 12 people you're having to cover up. Plus their bosses, co-workers, friends, they're families....that's a lot of work for some blurry lights and a few rocks.
Final thoughts: Meh. The acting could have been worse, but it could have been better too. The vlogger's boyfriend is a little wooden at times "I'm so scared" he said as he tried to stay conscious during the line read. The rest are mostly fine given what they have to work with. Special affects (if you call light a special affect) are what you'd expect for 'made for a dollar' level. While I know its a staple of the 'found-footage' and 'vlog-entry' films, the constant cut-to-black in between sequences got a bit old. I know it's showing that these are entries, but I felt like I was having a stroke. Sometimes they only last for two minutes at a time, so it gets old real quick. Like Shadowhunters I did appreciate gay characters that weren't portrayed as 'Ew, a bug!' and that they're relationship was never brought up as objectionable to any other party. At its core, its only slightly better than the amateur movies people make on YouTube. It won't destroy your brain, but you may find yourself playing a phone-game during certain parts.
Oh, where to begin? Well, let's meet our protagonists. We have what I'm calling the Prime protagonist; a vlogger. We then have his boyfriend, his sister, and his sister's boyfriend. While I appreciate that none of these characters fit any stereotype or trope (there's no brainless blonde or macho jock for example) this unfortunately leaves them with very little personality. While this works well for selling them as the 'average' people, it doesn't give much room to hang your hat on.
So our little foursome is taking a camping trip in the woods together because--uh--oh look, a bird! Naturally, being a vlogger, our Prime wants to record everything. Well, thank god for him, otherwise we would have missed the thrilling unpacking, hiking, crashing the drone, etc. Seriously, the whole camping section of the movie feels mostly like filler material. Yes, I know it's supposed to set up the premise/conflict; but they could have just as easily seen the lights in the sky from their backyard and cut out the middle-man. Oh yes, our group spots strange lights in the sky while they're camping. Of course, being the coolest thing ever for his vlog, our vlogger decides to film it off-center while breaking to get close-ups of his friends. After the next night (I think?) they find stacks of rocks piled up outside their tents. They film this as evidence of the 'aliens/ufos' despite the fact that it proves absolutely nothing to the vlog audience, as they could have done it themselves in the night.
Well, back to our daily lives of---constantly being in the same house together. I know that two are siblings but the boyfriends seem to almost be living there. Since we're told that at least two characters are only 17, this is a bit questionable (as is their talk about making a sex tape). So our Prime uploads the videos and strange things start happening. He's contacted on a Skype-stand-in and warned that he's now brought himself to 'their' attention and they 'don't want these things discussed'. Of course the Skype guy contacts him without the program offering "This person wants to contact you, will you accept?" Then our group gets a visit from the Men In Black (No, not Will Smith or Chris Hemsworth).
This is where the movie really starts falling apart. The problem falls into the 'suspension of disbelief' category. Want to do aliens? Fine, audiences don't mind that. Want to do a conspiracy film? Okay, you can get away with it, provided you do it well. But this whole MIB plot angle is a mess. First. Why would they care? Your video proves nothing! It's lights in the sky! We see those on news reports for God's sake! Our un-named (and un-explained!) Skype person says the MIB doesn't want these things discussed. Really? Better shut down all of YouTube then! Seriously, go search for 'UFO footage' or 'crypitds', 'aliens', 'bigfoot', etc, and see how many results you get. You could spend the next few years sorting through them. But yeah, your blurry footage of lights is just so amazingly undeniable it warrants the MIB's attention----right.
At this point the movie veers more into a conspiracy film where "They're everywhere!" Um, again--why? They're expanding massive resources just because you're so super special awesome? The cops can't even follow murderers around 24/7, but these guys will follow all four of you around all the time? Well, we went to the police, but then we saw the MIB with the police! Well, we tried one thing and we're all out of ideas! Better hole up in our house and complain about it! Evidently all the power of the Secret Government can be stopped by a locked door!
So, more weird things happen. Our protagonists lose time, find implants in their bodies, see mysterious balls of light, and hear each other screaming when they are actually asleep. But the real icing on the cake? They're in their basement/laundry area and they hear a radio (and its coming from inside the house!) They discover that there is a false wall in their basement/laundry with a mysterious set-up. Well, good thing mom and dad left that running while they were on vacation. Or did the aliens turn it on? OOOH (Cue X-files theme). It's also nice that we've never noticed it our entire lives. So we're shown a video of the brother and sister being taken to a (hanger?) as children where they see an alien. This was somewhat alluded to by the Skype person earlier. "I know you don't remember a portion of your life" or something to that affect. Well---then how does Skype-guy? This isn't a case where either sibling notices a huge chunk of their lives were gone, they don't remember not-remembering! The sister says she had some vague memories of it, but chalked it up to bad dreams. But don't worry, these tapes aren't explained. Neither is Skype-Indrid, or how he knows about anything.
The movie rushes headlong into any ending it can find---the end. Oh wait, forgot to mention our titular bookends. Apparently this whole thing is some underground rebellion posting it to "expose the truth". "We're hiding from the government---but feel free to browse our website's gift shop!" It's really weird and out of place. Honestly it seems tacked on to provide the movie a title. It's as if they couldn't think of a title and when the found one they just added these bookends to help it make sense. We're told that our protagonists disappeared and that no reports have been filed and that they're families are also missing. How do you know? No reports have been filed! Assuming that each protagonist had two parents--that's 12 people you're having to cover up. Plus their bosses, co-workers, friends, they're families....that's a lot of work for some blurry lights and a few rocks.
Final thoughts: Meh. The acting could have been worse, but it could have been better too. The vlogger's boyfriend is a little wooden at times "I'm so scared" he said as he tried to stay conscious during the line read. The rest are mostly fine given what they have to work with. Special affects (if you call light a special affect) are what you'd expect for 'made for a dollar' level. While I know its a staple of the 'found-footage' and 'vlog-entry' films, the constant cut-to-black in between sequences got a bit old. I know it's showing that these are entries, but I felt like I was having a stroke. Sometimes they only last for two minutes at a time, so it gets old real quick. Like Shadowhunters I did appreciate gay characters that weren't portrayed as 'Ew, a bug!' and that they're relationship was never brought up as objectionable to any other party. At its core, its only slightly better than the amateur movies people make on YouTube. It won't destroy your brain, but you may find yourself playing a phone-game during certain parts.
Did anyone care?
takato05244 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
What a generic bunch of uninteresting characters. Fraternal twins skylar and whatever her name was go camping with their boyfriends (skylar is a boy and gay and performs it as stereotypical as possible). They see some lights at night in the sky and the next day rocks are formed outside their tents. They go home and that night sky gets some texts on his computer and the trash cans are piled the same way the rocks were. Men in black start camping outside their house each night claiming they want to talk. The two boyfriends find something implanted in them and the twins have weird marks on them. Stranger things continue to happen including light shows and memory loss. Eventually a tape is found in the basement and apparently the twins had encountered this before when they were around 5. Movie ends with the black guy being shot, the other bf disappearing, and the twins dying.
Everything was so bland I wanted to kill myself for turning this on. No performance was believable. Throwing in the parents was random and odd. Nothing was explained.
Everything was so bland I wanted to kill myself for turning this on. No performance was believable. Throwing in the parents was random and odd. Nothing was explained.
One of the better found footage churned out lately
hjtfmmyzw21 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed the extraterrestrial/conspiracy premise, which is a different motif than most of this genre.
The characters were fine, and there were interesting developments which weren't fully explained. Ones mileage may vary on that. I'm typically the kind of person who prefers explanations to vague hints, but this time it didn't bother me too much.
Definitely did their research into the extraterrestrial lore, what with Ingrid Cold (is point folks towards Wikipedia or Hellier for more info) showing up.
But what I feel the core sin of the film, the thing that made it merely enjoyable as opposed to interesting, was the lack of clear motivations for the antagonists. It is suggested there are different factions... but the aim of said factions remain elusive (beyond "don't disclose.")
The characters were fine, and there were interesting developments which weren't fully explained. Ones mileage may vary on that. I'm typically the kind of person who prefers explanations to vague hints, but this time it didn't bother me too much.
Definitely did their research into the extraterrestrial lore, what with Ingrid Cold (is point folks towards Wikipedia or Hellier for more info) showing up.
But what I feel the core sin of the film, the thing that made it merely enjoyable as opposed to interesting, was the lack of clear motivations for the antagonists. It is suggested there are different factions... but the aim of said factions remain elusive (beyond "don't disclose.")
Could Have
UltraMaximal23 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Could have been a halfway decent FF piece, but several early mistakes ruined it.
1. The lead is terrible. Plain out terrible and a Hollywood gay stereotype. Sad and disgusting portrayal.
2. The lead is just terrible.
3. Nobody ever says each other's name. Just babe or dude.
4. The lead is just terrible and annoying.
5. All these 20 something's have unlimited cash but only one seems to work. Is this why we are forgiving student loans? Because they don't use them for school.
6. The lead is just terrible. Shallow, vapid, effeminate, pouty, just a terrible human.
7. The lead is just terrible.
1. The lead is terrible. Plain out terrible and a Hollywood gay stereotype. Sad and disgusting portrayal.
2. The lead is just terrible.
3. Nobody ever says each other's name. Just babe or dude.
4. The lead is just terrible and annoying.
5. All these 20 something's have unlimited cash but only one seems to work. Is this why we are forgiving student loans? Because they don't use them for school.
6. The lead is just terrible. Shallow, vapid, effeminate, pouty, just a terrible human.
7. The lead is just terrible.
A rare find.
gershondessie-9150012 July 2019
I love found footage with a passion. We all know it's hard to find good ones and this is definitely one of them. A solid film that waveres just a little. The acting isnt bad. I really enjoy this film. Its definitely worth the watch.
Just...no
haskel-7295128 June 2022
I feel like I've lost brain cells by watching this preposterous crap. There is nothing- and I DO mean nothing - about this mess that is even worth discussing. I would like the 76 minutes of my life back that I wasted on this garbage.
Too much with not enough payoff
Geekgal197711 November 2023
A found footage film about people being stalked and abducted by aliens has been done. That doesn't mean it can't be done well again, but you need to have an unusual spin on it for it to work. Instead, the writers of this film seem to have decided to throw everything against the wall. Nothing sticks.
They bring in the MIBs and Indrid Cold from Mothman Lore. This could have worked, except we get ideas lifted straight from the Bliar Witch Project. Suddenly, there's a secret in the main character's family history; oh, there's a number station being received, apparently just for the creepy sound. All the shots seem to have been lifted from The Fourth Kind. The mystery with the family secret? No payoff, nothing more than hints. Never mind that the all-knowing Indrid (set up in a scene wholly lifted from Richard Gere's The Mothman Prophecy) is telling these kids to do something they already tried, which failed. Does that mean Indrid is not actually trying to help them? There is no time to figure any of this out, people! A spooky blue light awaits, and we've got alien implants. Implants make this creepier, right?
I love a good mystery. I think found footage works best when the audience is given some to work with but leaves some for the viewer's imagination. The problem here is there is just too much, and it feels like the filmmakers don't even know how this all ties together. This is a shame because the actors are good; they deliver their lines naturally, in the way you need to make this kind of film work. The characters are likable but flawed. Unfortunately, the script is only one of those things.
They bring in the MIBs and Indrid Cold from Mothman Lore. This could have worked, except we get ideas lifted straight from the Bliar Witch Project. Suddenly, there's a secret in the main character's family history; oh, there's a number station being received, apparently just for the creepy sound. All the shots seem to have been lifted from The Fourth Kind. The mystery with the family secret? No payoff, nothing more than hints. Never mind that the all-knowing Indrid (set up in a scene wholly lifted from Richard Gere's The Mothman Prophecy) is telling these kids to do something they already tried, which failed. Does that mean Indrid is not actually trying to help them? There is no time to figure any of this out, people! A spooky blue light awaits, and we've got alien implants. Implants make this creepier, right?
I love a good mystery. I think found footage works best when the audience is given some to work with but leaves some for the viewer's imagination. The problem here is there is just too much, and it feels like the filmmakers don't even know how this all ties together. This is a shame because the actors are good; they deliver their lines naturally, in the way you need to make this kind of film work. The characters are likable but flawed. Unfortunately, the script is only one of those things.
Great
ajworden-5464827 December 2019
Awesome
park-april4 August 2019
Skylar Is Awesome
bartonkarry9 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I love love love this movie Skylar is my favorite there is nothing bad I can say about this movie except where did the twins go and are they coming back so sad that Tren And Cory had to die please make another one on when they return.
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