Life of Belle

After a horrific disappearance, the release of footage from the affected family designed to help find out what happened to the missing daughter shows their typical family life which soon grows darker and more ominous forcing them to figure out what's going on to save themselves.

This was a fairly solid and intriguing found-footage effort. Among the brighter aspects to be had with this one is the great build-up that provides the kind of intriguing setup for how this one plays out. The first half here, spending as much time as it does detailing the family strife and their interactions with each other that does show them to be a fairly normal loving family that does have a dark secret hiding amongst them due to the glances and cryptic conversations that are shown to take place on the fringes of their relationship just barely captured by the camera. Since so much of the focus comes on her and her antics that are usually featured alongside her brother, the fact that the these subtle hints are dropped nicely alongside the footage taken from the security cameras that tries to suggest something else happening to the family, this one does a fairly solid job portraying the build-up of the family. As this one goes along and it starts to spell out the truth about the situation in a series of increasingly more ominous sequences, there's a dramatically more chilling tone and atmosphere that hangs over the film as the kids gradually find the behavior and outbursts to be far more concerning as they notice her increasingly crazed behavior. From ranting and raving in the middle of the night to bizarre crying fits in the oddest places around the house to seemingly harmless children's games that turn into psychologically terrifying experiences that highlight something not right in the whole ordeal, there's quite a chilling finale here that sets everything up quite nicely. This does take a while to get going as there's a rather low-key nature of what's going on takes the more reserved nature of the storyline into the main focus which keeps things at a measured but potentially sluggish tempo for some that might not be thrilled with the lack of action or overt explanations for what's going on.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, children-in-jeopardy, and Violence.

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.

I went into this film with a bit of scepticism. However, I have to say I came out really impressed. I'm not one who reviews a lot of movies, but I thought I'd like to add my thoughts to this one, as it was likely to get washed away with average reviews.

First of all, I have to agree with some previous reviewers and say the acting is not great. Apart from Belle and her mother, the other actors are a bit "clunky", but this is a minor quibble.

Overall, this is a superb piece of drama on a small budget. Don't expect big jump scares. It slowly builds the terror and the viewer is left thinking "What the Hell is going on?" A small clue happens along the way, in a blink and you've missed it way. I will say no more. Suffice it to say, you know it's going to be a paranormal drama. Now, how does it pan out?

The dread builds slowly, though from the start, you know things aren't going to end well. A mix of Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project and Lake Mungo, it works well. A superb horror flick. I loved it and will definitely watch again, having had a feeling I might have missed some clues along the way.

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.

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.