Bloat

This whole thing was literally written by AI and the horror was definitely made by it too; it was extremely boring and literally made no sense. The pacing is slow, the characters are boring, the sound is horrible (not scary at all) and even the visuals are blurry throughout most of the film. I expected a Japanese American film to be like the ring or the grudge, but boy was I wrong. Don't waste your time watching this, I spent $5.99 to see it on YouTube and really wished I didn't. I can see better AI horror for free online without wasting an hour and a half of my time. All in all, worst movie I've seen in years.

Right off the bat, I cannot recommend this film for any reason whatsoever; This was an absolute dretch to get through. Nonexistant plot with scenes smacked together, very poor acting accompanied by laughable "chemistry", "dialog" and "story" - there's none of it here. There's plenty of times you could laugh during this film, but it's for all the reasons you wouldn't want to be laughed at - film editing is abysmal alongside the very loud and mishmashed audio, continually displaying some really bad CGI garbage that's supposed to draw us in with mystery, it doesn't. Call me a full blown hater for this film, but I can genuinely tell anyone reading this - you will thank me for telling you this film just isn't it. Absolutely nothing was redeeming about it, it's not interesting, scary, enthralling - it's scenes to bloat runtime.

I will preface this by saying I am a huge fan of Screenlife. Searching is one of my top favorite movies, so when this movie came out, I was excited to see it since it's more of a horror, like Unfriended (another movie I strongly enjoyed). Unfortunately, this is not comparable to either Searching or Missing.

• The writing. This movie, in the plot synopsis alone, is great. In execution, however, the plot is a clunky mess with almost cringy dialogue. (They make a Supernatural reference partway through! Why?) I saw reviews that say the format held it back, but I don't even think a conventional film could save this.

It uses a clip from Unfriended as if it actually happened, which would be fine, but it's specifically from the Skype call and not the in-universe internet media. That makes no sense; who was recording it, and who published it after?

• The pacing. Some parts drag painfully slowly, and some parts speed at breakneck. It's unwatchable. I never look away from my screen during movies, but I found myself desperately wanting to during this one. - The acting. I'm sure the lead guy is a good actor, but his work in this film is nothing short of terrible. It's flat, stunted, and the few times he's not just staring at a monitor, his physical direction is just... not there. His friend, however, is the actual worst actor in the film. He speeds through his lines like a table read, with no emotion, as if they went with the very first take and nothing more. The mom's alright, and the kid actors do a better job than the lead. Disappointing.

• The visual look. I'm pretty picky when it comes to tech accuracy in these movies, and this one falls surprisingly short. Everything we see in the film is perfect 4K with film grain, not something you'd see from a cellphone camera or a 16-year-old YouTube video (something actually shown in the film). The other Bazelevs productions weren't like this, so clearly the crew of *this one* is the issue. Every scary shot in the film is watered down with an overblown datamosh like you took all the bad parts of Unfriended: Dark Web and mashed them to a pulp. Grammatical and spelling errors plague just about every line of text, continuity errors in window locations, statuses, and the IMPORTANT SITE OF THE FILM SWITCHING BETWEEN '. ORG' and '. COM'. I can not overstate how major an oversight that is. That should be, like, the first thing you get down.

TL;DR: Don't even bother watching this. A 'Mystery Recapped' AI video could do a better job of explaining the plot than the movie itself could.

Stuck in a different country, a military officer keeping track of his family is relieved that a potential accident to his son is a false alarm when he survives a near-fatal drowning incident, but the longer he's away the more their erratic behavior convinces him something isn't right with his son.

This was a generally frustrating if still somewhat enjoyable genre effort. The central premise here is generally fun, offering a chilling take on possession that brings about some intriguing local folklore while utilizing some standard evil kid tropes. The idea of getting to relive the trauma of the fateful drowning while on a call with her and to then be saved when news of the survival is spread gives this a great emotional background for the burgeoning tension that arises the more it continues involving the increasingly erratic and unnatural behavior towards the rest of the family that gets mentioned or glimpsed fleetingly on calls makes for an intriguing enough setup.to propel this one along. As the incidents continue and all point to possession, this launches into a fantastic series of interactions involving the race to unravel the truth and put their knowledge into action. The revelation about the potential spirit holding onto the son and what they would mean as the information gathered from the search into the specific creature gives them the idea for how to carry out the means of stopping him and saving his son's life. The problem here is the screen-life presentation that initially appears quirky but soon becomes immensely off-putting and irritating when watching different screens and apps flash open with no real-world interaction. This would've been a lot more intriguing and enjoyable if played straight, which is a big reason for what holds this down.

Rated R: Violence and Language.

Bloat combines the "screenlife" horror genre with Japanese folklore, centered on a family tormented by a Kappa. While the digital-first format effectively creates a sense of isolation and dread, its execution of the mythical creature is disappointing.

For those familiar with Japanese folklore, the film's portrayal of the Kappa feels like a mismatch. The creature, a well-known water-dwelling trickster, is simplified into a generic possession demon. The movie introduces details like the Kappa's love for cucumbers but then abandons them in favor of standard horror tropes, failing to capitalize on the unique and creepy potential of the original myth.

Ultimately, Bloat is a visually intriguing but narratively frustrating horror film. It's an atmospheric ride that will appeal to fans of the screenlife genre, but its missed opportunity to authentically explore the Kappa mythos leaves it feeling conventional and uninspired.