.ask

Chris VanderKaay's ".ask" comes off as a DIY-left fielder skewering You-Tubers running motivational scams and hustles with a less-than-zero budget, complete with lo-fi effects. It makes the realization all the more jarring as you slowly discover that ".ask" has a much deeper, almost existential layer and that VanderKaay is not only a very talented writer and director, but a believable, quite nimble actor as well.

VanderKaay's character's hook is to tell his viewers/subscribers to keep "putting yourself out there," exhorting authenticity while actually giving away none of his own secrets, faults, or foibles, and he's failing miserably. Until, of course, he crosses paths with another YT Life Coach who's... well... more than a little sinister.

It's hard to even begin to describe the oddities (and complexities) of what happens next. It's not only absorbing, it really makes you think and ask questions about your own behavior and motivations. That's a tall order for any film.

For VanderKaay to succeed to that level of significance with a 90-minute found footage horror is remarkable. Imagine the bounty if more people did this. We should be so lucky.

Don't trust this review, watch the movie for yourself.

I made this microbudget fake doc horror movie for almost no money, and its creation was pretty crazy. I shot the whole thing with no script, just a beat sheet with about 50 bullet points on it. I never shot a third take of anything, and over half the scenes were done in only one take.

I reverse engineered the story around some crazy real-life events happening to me, like my car getting stolen and taken on a joyride, as well as me getting my front six teeth replaced. There's a scene where a man is being arrested in the background behind us in a parking lot; that was actually happening for real, so I wrote it into the movie.

Every scene takes place in a real location, all of which I did not get permission to shoot in. A couple of the locations were during actual live events, and no one had any idea I was secretly shooting a movie.

The budget for the film was about $300, and most of that was film festival entry fees. The actual money I spent specifically on the making of the film was around $20, everything else was "found value". I made the movie to show how a lack of resources doesn't have to stop a filmmaker from making something entertaining that shows their skills as a storyteller.

I hope you enjoy the movie. If you don't, I still appreciate you watching it.

I was lucky enough to come into contact with the writer and main star of this movie, Chris Vander Kaay and was given a screener for this movie and the following is my honest opinion: This movie is completely unique to any found footage movie you've ever seen before. It takes the old trope of Be Careful What You Wish For, modernizes it, and flips it on its head in the best ways. I HIGHLY recommend it for any diehard found footage fan. The acting was very good, A huge twist that honestly made me go "hold tf on now" and I will absolutely be telling friends to check it out and plan on rewatching it very very soon.

I thought this was very cool/new/fun/unique take on my favorite style of horror movie. Definitely worth the watch. I've seen so many found footage films it's really refreshing to see a completely new take on the genre, not to mention it touches on pretty relevant subjects for this era.

Im not giving anything away because as I keep telling people, best to go in blind!

One thing I can say, how well the twists all blend into one another. Where you start is nowhere near where you finish, it's quite a ride.

Director/main actor is a super humble and cool guy. It's really neat to see films get the momentum/attention they deserve.

Check it out for yourself!!

Normally when you watch found footage it's kinda predictable and story is usually thin. Found footage is 90 percent horror and the rest is drama. But a diamond in the rough appears in "ask" . In the beginning it's just getting to know the character and his struggles in life. But as the movie gets going, you are thrust into a beautiful mystery movie that slowly becomes larger and larger.

The main characters life problems are really relatable which makes you want to help him solve the mystery yourself. I got deeply immersed into the film and almost felt like I knew the character and wanted to help him. This is not just a found footage movie but an excellent piece of cinema.