Tethered

This was enjoyable to watch up until the ending.

Despite it obviously being a low budget film, the acting was good, the direction was good, and I felt the story really had potential.

Maybe I failed to understand something, but I felt that it was ruined by the weak and confusing ending. I probably would have given this a 6 or 7 if it had ended differently.

It's times like this that I wish IMDB still had message boards as I would like someone to explain the ending to me as I obviously didn't get it.

This film reminds me of It Comes at Night (2017), a slow burn that really has no purpose. It starts off semi-promising but feels like it loses its plot as the film progresses. It feels incomplete, playing on loop just to keep you watching for something that appears to exist in your head fueled by seclusion.

I was not impressed with this one personally, but I will say that the cinematography is beautiful. It's dark, depressing, moody, lingering, but lifeless. The ending seems to have one of those what I like to call "suicidal" endings where it disappointingly dies.

I wish the storyline was better.

A blind boy, his protective mother, and a goat named Millie, live in the backwoods of the Carolinas, fishing, trapping small animals and living off the land. But there is something ominous in those woods. What could possibly go wrong? Mother, former Baywatch babe Alexandra Paul teaches Solomon the rules of survival, before she disappears one night. Time passes, a strange hunter (Hank) happens upon the scene, seeking shelter for the night (what could possibly go wrong). Tension mounts as Hank finds the mother's journal and reads some of it to Solomon, until he comes upon a disturbing passage. Strange things are happening in the beckoning woods. What could possibly go wrong?

This is the first feature film for this talented group of North Carolina independent film makers (they have made some short films). They have produced a solid psychological thriller, using a combination of Hollywood and local talent, a good original (tension building) musical score and professional cinematography. Definitely worth the price of a ticket or a stream, and I cannot wait to see their next production.

This movie had some good potential. The set up was intriguing and the slow starting pace did a fair job of drawing the viewer.

The acting was alright, but given it's more of an indie film you could overlook it and I still felt endeared to the characters. However, some of the music felt inconsistent and actually took me out of the immersion. Similarly, some of the visual shots seemed to be a good set up for a close up or some sort of follow up scene/dialogue but ended up leaving you hanging. (i.e. Hank reading the journal to Solomon felt cut off and I wanted more from the scene)

The final reveal was predictable and left me wanting something more. Ultimately the world building and story were on the right track, but the final product just felt a bit lacking.

It's artsy and atmospheric and the actors do a stand-up job, it's even craftily filmed, but about halfway through I realized nothing was really happening, and wondered if it could be condensed into a much shorter version. By the end, my mind hadn't changed and I wondered if it should have just been a short. Then I discovered that the director had, in fact, based it on a 12 minute short, which I am now eager to watch to confirm that this thing would have made an absolutely brilliant short film.