User reviews

I didn't read anything about Population Zero before watching it and to be honest I thought it was a documentary for almost half of the movie before realizing it was a mockumentary. So credits to the actors in the beginning that made it look genuine. Acting is good when it doesn't look like acting. Once it looks like acting you're actually not a good actor, that's paradoxal but that's how it is. At half of the movie it was suddenly obvious there were acting scenes, so not a good job from those actors. But for a mockumentary I have to admit I enjoyed it. It's well made and the story is interesting. Population Zero is low budget but it isn't bad, certainly not for the way it's shot, with handycams, not really the kind of cinematography I normally enjoy.

This film makes no mention that it's a mockumentary and I find that predatory. Had I known it was fake I wouldn't have watched it. I was believing the story up until they receive a video. At that point the suspension of belief was blown and left me mad for wasting my time. If it was a real documentary I would have given it a higher rating but I feel like this is a bait and switch scheme.

POPULATION ZERO is a mockumentary or fake documentary the strongest aspect of which is an intelligent plot based on real-life issues.

A man kills three young hikers in Yellowstone National Park, then immediately turns himself in and confesses, but offers no motive. His trial fails because, it turns out, there is a legal loophole in the US constitution which effectively permits crimes to be committed in this area due to the fact that it has population zero. Five years later, a documentarian retraces the murders and the events that led to them, and comes across an unexpected discovery.

While the murders are fictional, the issue with the legal loophole is a real-life legal problem which was discovered by a law professor. Interestingly, a novel had been written years before with substantial similarities to this set-up based on that loophole. It is called "Free Fire", and it concerns an attorney who kills four hikers in the same area in Yellowstone National Park and also immediately turns himself in and confesses, offering no motive.

The author of "Free Fire", CJ Box, has publicly accused this documentary of plagiarism. The accusation could be true, but I believe there is room for doubt. For one thing, despite the nearly identical premise, there are some differences in each case between the killer, his victims, his pursuer and, most importantly, his motives. For another, after the law professor published his article on the loophole, it is conceivable that multiple people could have independently thought of a similar fictional murder plot that would exploit it. Most importantly, Box himself seems to have admitted that the alleged plagiarism did not extend to verbatim passages from his book.

Unfortunately, people steal ideas from each other all the time. I don't know whether that is the case here, but I decided to give the film-makers the benefit of the doubt.

With that out of the way, I found the plot to be well-constructed, and the connection to fracking, another real-life problem, both completely unanticipated and incorporated in a very natural way. The characterization of the antagonist in this had shades of "John Doe" in SE7EN (1995). There is a reference by the director, who plays himself, to a previous actual documentary he had made on environmental pollution, and I found this mixing of reality and fiction amusing, as it seems to be sort of the converse of the "Bateson's Belfry" hoax by Michael Crichton in THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1978).

The pace is rather slow, but the plot offers enough twists along the way that it keeps interest. As far as mockumentaries are concerned, I would rate it as one of the best, so fans of the genre may wish to add it to their watchlist, perhaps followed by a reading of "Free Fire".

The concept of a fake documentary is an interesting one. The whole time I was watching 'Population Zero' I kept thinking to myself, would I be enjoying this more if it was a real documentary? The answer is of course yes. The biggest problem with the fake side of it is that every time it tries to take itself seriously it just comes across embarrassingly. When it focuses on the story and mystery element it's fine, however when it tries to get heart-felt interview answers out of terrible actors it is nothing short of cringe-worthy.

The story is certainly the strongest part of 'Population Zero'. Quite an interesting plot line is developed and it drives the movie along well. Director and star Julian T. Pinder also quite impressed me. He had just enough charisma to carry the film. Some of the dialogue he had to work with wasn't particularly well written at times, so his acting can come across clunky on occasion. I don't think that was entirely his fault though. There's a half decent film hidden somewhere in here. Just some slightly better pacing and some script tweaks and this could have been something special.

This is a great movie. If you like mocumentry style films you will love this one.

I went into this movie not knowing a lot about it and I suggest not watching any trailers or reading about the plot.

What I will tell you is that the subject matter is original and it is one of the better mocumentry style files I have seen. I even had to google it afterwards just to be 100% certain it wasn't a real documentary.

The movie itself is not scary but as it wound along and started to reveal itself I became quite creeped out about the fact that the idea behind this movie is real.

Definitely worth a watch if you want something a bit different with an edge of truth.

This documentary was good..just the thing I enjoy..I was really into it when I cleverly started picking up on this is not really real Beth..hmm I am still shocked it is fake but I still wonder if it is real considering there were no credits for actors! Is it really based on fiction or reality? Regardless I did enjoy it...

There was a lot of thought put into this movie and I think most will see that this is not an actual documentary. That being said, it doesn't make it any less of a movie. So while this isn't exactly what some people advertise it to be, this is so close to being that, that whatever you think of it, won't really matter.

Well apart from the fact that some people will question your intelligence maybe. But this only showcases how good the work of the filmmaker at hand is here. It also showcases how crazy some laws are and maybe they need to change. There have been faux documentaries before and there will be quite a few after this, but the style of this, might make it more accessible to a broader audience than some other outputs have been. Whatever the case (no pun intended), this is gripping and told very well

This film is made documentary style and quite well. It's very slow burn style I liked and the scenes are beautiful. It's the story that can't carry the film. If I want watch TV for an hour, I don't wan't to watch fake documentary. Yes, it has some drama an thrill but it's only purpose seems to be there because it has to.

Wasted an hour for a very short story stretched unnecessarily. Slow burn is OK, but it must deliver. Four stars because it was technically well done.

Silly mockumentary that deteriorates the farther it gets along,becoming more unbelievable and unsustainable.

I knew there were actors involved , have seen dramatizations before. Do no waste time.

I went into this movie knowing nothing about it, really. It was on Hulu, and I figured it was going to be your standard found-footage horror schlock. I was mistaken! This is actually less 'horror' and very much more 'crime drama'. You will find yourself invested in the characters and the story, and there is no gore, monsters, aliens, etc. to be found. The film is very much about the characters and the crime.

One of the best things about this film is how it was shot and put together. Although I knew it was fiction, it seems very real, like a true documentary. The actors do a great job too. However, it's the mystery that will really reel you in and keep you captivated.

Definitely worth a watch!

I love the idea of this and the story of this but the acting was so atrocious I had to stop it halfway through. I was embarrassed for them. The story is intriguing though and beautiful scenery.

This one actually sucked me in. I thought I was watching one of those documentaries where the director makes himself the star of the film and hogs all the camera time with his ruminations. The plot, if true, would have made a fascinating documentary, but since this is all just complete fiction dressed up to look like a bad documentary, it's completely worthless as a film, as sheer a waste of time as I have ever wasted time on.

A bit of background is needed here. I watch a great deal of documentaries and although I enjoy entertainment movies as well I specifically wanted to see this as it referenced many notions, experiences of my youth. I have not been to Yellowstone but I did grow up in this region. I also am an Investigation Discovery Channel fan. So seeing a legal documentary about a murder in an area I grew up in sounded like a worthwhile viewing. So this video appears in a search of documentary.

So now were into the film... no spoilers just remarks follow. Julian T. Pinder - This is straight up "True Crime" documentary and I am simply astounded by all I am hearing from the family and the "confession" by Dwayne Nelson. So far the film is 100% the real thing to me.

This is simply an excellent story. As with anything the story is the heart of the matter. I have to say without knowing a thing about this film I was masterfully told a deep, twisting story through the vehicle of a true crime documentary with 100% of the styling I like in those shows.

I also cannot call this anything like a "found video film." Those seem to suck a bit in my opinion for various reasons and I know it's more a generational thing to enjoy those types of movies but this film is made to be "the real thing" which by acting standards is a tough job. You really have to believe the people and especially in the aftermath of tragedy. The heroics, the sleuthing, the discussions, the players....shucks that is why I watch these crime shows so often and this film was like a very special presentation (of the highest order) as the story progressed. Was it over the top, hell no! It features everything I am used to seeing and very real occurrences that play out across the nation with murder.

So in a word from someone who watches endless hours of video (no one will hire me, been heading towards homelessness for 2 years now)....this film is Brilliant. Well acted through and through (maybe not the camera man?), the presentation is painfully spot on! I am very happy I knew what little I did going in and literally grinning by the credits. I won't give away my thoughts on the "tells" that gave way to the illusion of the documentary and making it start to feel like a movie, a work of fiction. I really didn't want to mention that as I stated this Julian Pinder guy is a rock star with this thing. It seriously blows so many big film budgeted movies out of the water easily and would be on par with - The Life of David Gale (2003).

Although it shows this was filmed on a limited budget the story was decently delivered. The story certainly is sadly interesting.

Apparently we also have an alleged author here that wrote a book nobody bought (or else he wouldn't be angry) is mad someone else is shining a light on an actual real life event?!?!?! According to this persons viewpoint there should have been only a single book/documentary on 9/11 as well?!?!

About 9 minutes in I could tell that the cop was an actor and had to check on the credibility of the story. Total BS. I'm not sure whether to put spoilers or not? I find this being listed as a Documentary to be offensive.

I loved this film! Good twist on use of legal issues, alt-right political beliefs, and structure of the film as it tracks down the cast of characters involved in the story. It is better as a whole to simply watch this without any preconceived notions or background re the film's subject matter. It certainly sparks greater discussions with family/friends after you've watched it. The beauty of the film is how the audience/individual viewer becomes a participant in the search for answers to this entire adventure.

For the reviewer(s) who discount the reality of what they've just seen after the fact, assume that those people consume a regular diet of sour grapes and vinegar and may not get the fact that they too just participated in a great adventure.

This is a very poorly written, poorly executed, poorly filmed, poorly narrated, and poorly acted faux film.

The guise of this film is also very misleading because it alludes to the fact that this is a true story. That alone sucks you in because of the intrigue behind the case. It's very easy to tell soon in that all of this is just a bunch of BS. The so called "investigator" aka Julian seems to be very self-centered. I disliked this so much that it actually compelled me to create this account just to leave a review to warn people not to waste their time watching such a deplorable piece of cinema. Grrr.

I am getting well and truly sick of these damn things. Was a time a really great filmmaker would never in good conscience subject is to such a thing! Sadly these days they are becoming much too common. Just try being honest upfront about what it truly is, and I would definitely check it out. As this stands, hell no!! And I'll be on the lookout for more of this ilk.