This was a film that I got the chance to see on day 3 of Nightmares Film Festival. This won awards so I was quite curious to check it out. I believe I would have read the synopsis before seeing it, but didn't remember the premise. I did see it for its World premiere as well.
Synopsis: in-home security cameras watch as an awkward teenage girl terrorizes her well-meaning babysitter.
This synopsis gives a good idea of what we're getting here. Wilson (Wilson Haynes) is married to Reagan (Erin O'Meara). They have a daughter who is Monroe (Betsy Sligh). She has extreme anxiety so even though she's 16 years old, she needs a babysitter. That is Amna (Amna Vegha) who comes to the house. The parents are awkward but seem nice enough. They give Amna an idea of how the night will go. They also inform her that they did have a son, but he was murdered in the middle of the night in their home. That is why they have the cameras, as well, to give Monroe peace of mind. Since that incident, Monroe has been even more unbalanced.
After they leave, Monroe comes out of her room. She is quite odd, like Amna was warned about. There are strange things that happen as we see everything from footage of security cameras around the house. They get increasingly weirder until they go to bed that night. Amna gets a phone call from her boyfriend about coming to meet a music producer, so Amna tries to get her sister, Ana, to take over for her. This is just the start of the nightmare when Ana agrees, but then the parents come home.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Now this is a short recap, because there isn't a lot that happens here per say. There are things that I left out as I don't want to spoil this movie. Even if I did tell other things, I don't think that it would ruin this. What makes this work is the creepy atmosphere. There are things that Monroe does that just make you question her. Her parents also seem to shelter her, making things worse.
From there, I need to shift over to filmmaking. Since we are seeing security camera footage, that adds such a terrifying feel here. We feel like we are watching in on these people without them knowing. Amna knows about the cameras when she arrives and then we know that the parents set them up. There is still something eerie about watching the events play out like we're a fly on the wall. We also see characters do things that others aren't aware of. Having that inside information is uncomfortable. This is like Monroe cutting her finger while they're cooking. Did she do it on purpose? What she does while Amna is getting supplies to clean up the cut is creepy. Now I do think there are things that I don't know if characters would do, but we are watching teenagers. I can be forgiving and chalk up to movie logic.
Now there's another part that I'll credit to the editing. There are times where the footage messes up. When it does, there will be screens talking about Jeffrey Dahmer or past presidents. This last part plays in because the names of the members of this family are all associated with different ones. I don't fully know what to make of that or if it fully matters, but there is something jarring that adds to the atmosphere here.
Since this is more of a movie that I think needs to be experienced, I'll close out my thoughts. This has a low budget feel to how it is put together that helps build a creepy atmosphere. It almost feels like finding a snuff tape or something like that. The acting is good in making their characters feel real. The found footage makes you feel like you are there watching and you shouldn't be. This won't be for everyone. If you're interested, watch this with all the lights out and just roll with the things that I've said here.
My Rating: 7 out of 10.
