Winemaker

Winemaker is a 2024 found footage horror film. Well, it's meant to be. It's very light on the horror elements. At least for the first two acts. We are introduced to Jack, the world's weirdest winemaker. He is the subject of a documentary being shot by our protagonist. If that sounds vaguely familiar, it should. The "documentary filmmaker meets odd subject" plotline has been done to death. There are fleeting glimpses of promise in the film's aesthetic, but it commits the cardinal sin of making a VERY short run time seem interminable. This is sort of what you may get if you ordered the Creep films from Temu - similar but NOT of like quality.

Emil Ström's unsettling directorial debut "Winemaker" is a tense and debilitating piece of found footage. Both leads (Ström is quite good but Barrie Harrold is charming and menacing in equal doses) deliver such authentic performances that the awkward social tension remains palpable and suffocating throughout the entire runtime. It's an atmospheric slow burn that pays off with a great final twist at the end that goes down smooth. Overall, a really strong thriller from Ström and a great calling card for his future as a filmmaker. Certainly one of the highlights of this year's Unnamed Footage Fest.