There really is a great question that I have seen posed and have posed myself with found footage movies and that is – who the crap is finding this stuff? Without the context, we’re just presented with it as if WE found it, which is interesting. It’s certainly not a dealbreaker, at all, but it’s an interesting question to ponder as you watch the film – how can it be found footage if there’s no one to really find it? Something to ponder. Especially in films like this, which are set in the middle of nowhere and where it’s unlikely that someone came upon the footage, edited it, and at times, even scored it.
#MISSINGCOUPLE begins with a young couple and their dog as they on a new adventure. The couple are online influencers and are filming everything for their fans. The couple recently purchased a plot of land, sight unseen, and are now on their way to it. They have lived on the road, filming their adventures and are now ready to settle down. While it’s clear that there is work to be done to their new home, they are happy as they discover what they’ve purchased. As they start to explore though they learn more of the history of the area, and a dark history it is. They also start to get the feeling that someone is trespassing on their property. As we watch their footage we start to learn more about them and their property but this isn’t the whole story, nor the only teller of this tale. What the couple had hoped was a new start may only be the return of someone from their past they had hoped they had escaped, or perhaps something even worse.
This is a very interesting movie. The social media influencer stuff is great. Very well done. The acting is also very good, and the actors presenting as the couple are good in their roles. The filming makes sense and the mystery is teased out well. I won’t reveal the secondary story that we’re given, though it’s not anything that’s buried that deep in the film, I just liked that I hadn’t expected it.
It’s with this secondary story that starts the wheels wobbling a bit, as it’s not done as well and whether the narrator is relable or not is hard to tell. The style here is different and it has a different energy, which works.
Heck, the whole film works.
It’s pretty good.
The problem is that there are two mysteries happening here that we discover are not necessarily connected and leave you asking more questions than I wanted, to be sure. The film kept me guessing and even when I guessed right there was still another layer that is never quite explained.
There is some incidental music in the film as if scenes were scored, there is the element of – who found all this stuff – and there are the narrative shifts that can be abrupt, but it’s not a bad film at all. There are too many questions without answers here, which is always disappointing, but it’s an engaging and entertaining film and has a good mystery. Bonus that these are more realistic “everyday” influencers who are not over-the-top or annoying.
While the film didn’t land the dismount, it was entertaining and not bad at all. I can’t say I’d watch it again but it will have its fans. It’s not gory, it’s a slow burn, but it ratchets up the tension and mystery and is definitely engaging. The use of real people and real places gives the film an authenticity that is intriguing. They are definitely trying to take what films like BLAIR WITCH (and even CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST) did and to make it “real”. A sort of “what-if” scenario of – what if influencers dealing with the trappings of their fame found something worse than a stalker?
A lot of people will dig this and more will talk about it.
That’s a pretty successful film.
3 out of 5
(Having interviewed someone with the “documentary” there is an air of mystery to the film that really is intriguing and interesting. The film blends the real – these are real influencers and this is a real place they are in with real history – with the fantastic. It’s an interesting technique. It really opens the film up for discussion as to how we manipulate history and reality to tell a good story. I bumped my score up a nudge because it’s a very cleverly crafted piece, even if I don’t love the conclusion).
HEY! I interviewed someone involved with the film! Listen here – https://spookychris.com/the-spooky-chris-podcast/
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 