Life of Belle

I've seen many horror films over the years and many found footage horror films. This one, without revealing too much, gave me literal chills at the end and made me scream somewhere in the middle. Low budget or not, this film captured every terrifying feeling of not knowing who exactly you're living with on that particular day. And especially captured the fright of pure innocence not understanding what is happening with the adults in the room. The acting is not Oscar worthy but I don't think that's what the family who made this movie were going for. Something as simple as a little girl wanting to create her own YouTube channel can accidentally hone in on the destruction of the entire family dynamic.

LIFE OF BELLE is found footage horror film in which most of the footage is evidently shot by a young girl (I would say about 5-6 years old) which already is somewhat of a daring proposition. Fortunately, the children in this movie are very natural in most scenes, and this dramatically helps us stay in it. As the main cast and director all have the same last name, I suppose this is a family project, and this may have made it easier for the child actors to act naturally.

The movie's title comes from a Youtube show the girl wants to put together after her parents gift her a camera. Unwittingly, the camera ends up capturing the gradual but relentless mental decline of Belle's mother, apparently because she seems to suffer from some kind of dissociative disorder and refuses to take her medication when her husband has to go away on a business trip.

It helps the movie in setting up the horror to come that both Belle and her brother Linc are adorable. Most of the playing time is spent on showing us ordinary family scenes as they occur in any family with small children, except that they are interspersed with alarming moments of the mother's increasingly eerie and frightening behavior. Still, the increase in discomfort right up to the climax is very gradual, which makes for a very slow burn.

Unfortunately, the movie shows us right at the outset where all this leads to, thereby robbing us of the hope that everything will still turn out well. I honestly don't understand why so many found footage give most of the ending away right at the beginning; it is an editing or directorial choice I strongly disagree with.

Still, when the movie got to the last few minutes, I imagined how what I was being shown seemed so realistic that there probably were actual children with mentally ill and dangerous parents who had to face similar life situations, and it was this thought-such a fate of hapless real-life children as seen through their eyes- that struck me as deeply disturbing.

It was then all the more disappointing to see that the movie made a supernatural turn at the last moment. The horror of having your own loving mother pose a mortal threat to you as a little child is so great that I don't think anything supernatural can top it. This just came off as a cheap, cheesy and unnecessary.

So, all in all, the movie is very good at what it intends to do, and my only criticism is with the revealing beginning and the unnecessary coda. I suspect viewers with small children will be especially affected by this.

Where do I even begin with this mess of a movie? Do I start with the ridiculous plot, the horrendous and laughable acting or the embarrassing special effects? It's all so bad, I struggled to find even one redeemable quality in this movie and I really can't. For the life of me, I don't understand why people with no talent decide to make found-cottage films. If you look at my review history, you'll find that FF is one of my favorite genres and the one I'm most critical of because so many people just outright fail at making them. This movie is not only one of the worst FF films I've ever seen, but I can't think of a single one that's even worse than this.

The story is barebones and poorly presented, so it's not even worth mentioning. What is worth addressing is the poor excuse for acting from the entire cast; there were 4 people in this movie and each one was worse than the last in every way. The father delivered his lines in a monotone that displayed no emotion, the daughter read her lines poorly and laughed during the serious moments, the son was forgettable, and the worst offender, the mother. I've rarely seen acting this bad in a FF movie but this person really takes the cake. Lines delivered poorly, with no acting ability of talent. It was like watching someone's audition video for a community college production. Truly dreadful. Every time she opened her mouth I visibly cringed, she delivered her lines with all the aplomb of someone who has never acted a day in her life.

The acting was bad, but nothing was worse than the absolutely horrible SFX. In a world where talented and capable SFX artists can be found everywhere from YouTube to TikTok, why on earth would you skimp out on one? Why even bother using special effects if it's going to be this bad? I am ashamed for the people taking credit for this. It really was a hack job and I shudder to think what else they've worked on.

I'm giving this movie 3 stars because I watched it until the end, and only because it was a little over an hour. That's literally it. It doesn't deserve a single more. It was dreadful, the acting was comical at best, and everything about it just left a really bad impression on me. I'll be keeping a careful eye on the people responsible for this so that I avoid every future movie by everyone involved. I have high standards for FF and this is beyond bottom of the barrel, this is insulting,

Do not waste your time on reading the high reviews by obvious friends and family. I'm neither, and I am also HONEST, and this movie was bad and will be a waste of your time. Do not be dumb enough to watch it like I was.

As a parent, this film took me to a place that was unimaginably uncomfortable beyond all comprehension. The film itself had an incredibly good production value feel to it for something that was made with no budget. The kids were the real star of the show, the acting was amazing and my goodness was the mother incredibly freaky. Never again will I talk to a camera while on my bed!! I would easily put this film up there with exists and as above so below. I genuinely look forward to what this producer has next in the pipeline.....you 100% have a fan here. My partner although not a fan of ff films, quite comprehensibly said this film was amazing, your onto a winner here.

I don't write reviews often, but I was impressed with how disturbing this movie was. It filled me with angst-that lump in the back of your throat feeling. Syrenne Robinson plays the main character, Belle who pulled at my heart strings, with her love for her brother and her entire family. I later looked her up on IMDB to find that this is her first movie (along with most of the cast)..again, impressive. The movie explores mental health issues and the reality of what some kids and families deal with on a daily basis. The found footage is mostly from the perspective of the young girl, Belle and how children try to cope in difficult situations.