 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 2021 release Shook which is a shutter original and is coming to Shutter on Thursday, February 18th now because I'm Releasing this review ahead of time and because it's a 2021 release. This is a no spoiler review now That said I do ruin a little bit of kind of like some thematic things that are there but it doesn't give it away the events of the actual film and in fact There was one other theme that's at play in this film that I'm actually not going to talk about at all Because I thought about it and I put it down in my notes numerous times different ways And there's really no way that I could do it and not have it signal something that was actually happening in the film Events wise so I'm not even going to talk about that But just know there's another theme at play in here in the film and it is pretty overt So you will know at the end of the film what that is So I but I'm just not saying anything about it now because I don't want to ruin anything about this film really so Directed by Jennifer Harrington who also did the feature-length film housekeeping Written by Harrington and a story by Alessia or Alessia Glidewell who also provided a story and script for look at me and like I said It's coming on Thursday, February 18th to Shutter now a quick synopsis of this film so My synopsis for these films are usually really really short because I don't want to give too much away So basically what I'll say is a girl is at home alone she gets some phone calls and Things start happening. That's as much as I want to say it is interesting. I did enjoy this film I would recommend watching it That said there are some people there's a particular grouping of horror fans usually in the older generation of horror fans Who may very well not like this film and one of the reasons for that being is it's a much younger? Perspective on the film. There's the use of a good use of Technology being text messaging and also social media things like that so If you weren't a fan of host and the use of technology there and how young and fresh that was you may not be a fan of this film so Just know that but I would say at least give it a shot because I had a good time. I enjoyed the film I thought it was solid So immediately with this film you realize it's going to include commentary on current online Culture and there is plenty of that at play here And that's one of the refreshing things one of the nice things to see in this film is that's definitely something It's very very ripe right now to be used in horror films in my opinion So I want to see more of that I feel like this is a good film to kind of lead that Charge to do it along with host as well because there's a little bit of that in host So I enjoy that There's a really cool death scene in the very beginning of the film which I think serves very very well to kind of grab the audience and Get them engaged. So I really particularly like the beginning of this film The way in which the person dies is pretty nice It's not shown like full-on they don't go huge on the Practical effects and the kills and stuff like that because it's a low-budget film with most shutter original films They are low-budget films. So just know that but I will say that for being a low-budget film They did a pretty good job pulling things off. They kind of knew their parameters They got creative with being able to make it realistic as they as realistic as they can and also pulling it off to look good without overextending themselves, so yeah, so just know that The tone and music in the very beginning of this film has a very kind of light and fun feel to it Which I really enjoyed now It kind of changes a little bit after the very beginning of it and that's fine But I kind of liked that, you know fun light aspect to it now that said it doesn't lose the funness as it Keeps going because what keeps it kind of fun and I didn't see this coming was that it Injects this little aspect of a dark comedy to the film I don't know if that was intentional or not I assume it was intentional because of the way that some of the things that happen happen and some of the things that are said are Said it comes across as intentionally like darkly comedic and I liked that little mixture being added into a Otherwise kind of serious horror film so I like that and I feel like that thing is not easy to do You know throwing any aspect of comedy into horror is not easy to do The approach to featuring things like text and social media in this is handled quite well I do think One of the problems is a lot of the time when films will use text messaging They'll show like show like just the text messages like just the screen of the phone and that it that's not good That doesn't work so it was good to see in this film. They're not doing that You're also seeing the actual actor the main actor in this Interacting with the text messaging, you know on her computer and looking at things So it's not just on the screen and I like that. I think it's the best way to do it because otherwise I don't know it just gets boring if it's done where it's just focused on the screen Now granted there are a few shots of that, but it doesn't last long. So that's the good thing What's interesting is that the style and flow of the film Kind of mirrors how people use technology and social media today Meaning that there's kind of like a short attention span to a degree It's like things are constantly moving from like one thing to another thing So it especially early on in the film it kind of does that now I don't know if that was intentional or not But if it was I thought that was really smart because there's a lot of use of text and social media and everything in the beginning of The film and it's it's got that kind of frantic kind of movement feel to it But not to a point where it's like it feels detrimental to the film It just feels like it's mirroring the social media and internet experience pretty much. So It works in my opinion I'm sorry that that light. All right Sorry about that. Well now it's two. Okay, whatever apologies for that Uh, I get a bit of a scream vibe from this film. It definitely feels like it's inspired by the film scream Which uh, also Which actually it's good, you know It's good to be inspired by scream But also not take too much from it now setting wise I think there's a lot of scream aspect to it But also kind of story wise there's a little bit a little bit of scream to it So I think they kind of took the right amount of inspiration or I could be totally wrong that there's no inspiration from scream But I feel like it definitely plays that way. There's also a little bit Maybe a little bit more than a little bit inspiration from the saw films as well Not Well, you'll see what I mean in what way you'll see the night what I mean It's not like overt, but yeah, so I spotted those two inspirations and I wanted to call that out There's a solid intensity That gets mixed with the dark comedy in this film. So there are good intense kind of scary moments There's a good mystery aspect to it, too We're trying to figure out, you know What is really going on with this and to that end there are good twists to this film as well Twists that I didn't really see coming now granted I wasn't focusing super hard on trying to figure out what was going to happen before it happened But it wasn't so clear that I was like, oh, yeah, obviously that's what happens Good twists. So I I always enjoy not knowing what's what's going on until it happens Already said that it does drag a little bit in some places That's one of my problems with it. It's not a lot, you know But a little bit here and there it drags a little too much It feels like some of the scenes kind of overstay their welcome a little bit There is a tendency to kind of over explain a few things Some of the characters will actually kind of talk too much Where it's kind of like pull it back a little bit let some of this be more of subtext Because the audience is smarter than you think you don't have to tell them Or necessarily show them as much as you are Just kind of like draw back a slight bit But it's not to the point where it's you know, once again detrimental to the film It's just for me personally. It was just like a little bit too much I would like to you know be treated a little bit more intelligently as an audience member Um, it's just my one of my things Uh, do do do do do sorry, so there is something they use in this film that people really don't like Not only do people not like it people have a tendency sometimes to get all up in arms about it So it'd be interesting to see if this is something that gets talked about In respects or in regards to this film Um, I don't necessarily have as much of a problem with it as some people do I don't like to see it in films But it also doesn't bother me to the degree that it bothers a lot of people But I know that it is divisive it bothers a lot of people And like I said, it would be interesting to see what people say about it or don't say about it I have to call this out Daisy Tudor the main actress in this film who plays the character of Mia does a very good job Overall good acting in this film, but Daisy Tudor in particular Really nice job. This was not an easy role in my opinion and she really rose to the occasion She took that script and I think that she probably outperform the script the script a little bit Which is obviously exactly what you want for being a director being a writer director You want to have that script in front of the person and not only Do what you want them to do with the character and deliver lines that way but kind of add their own Aspect to it their own pizzazz their own feel to the character and I really feel like daisy did that So I really wanted to shout her name out because She did a really nice job. I was very impressed I have a feeling the old yes. I already said this because it's tech based I have a feeling this older crowd in the horror community is really not going to like this so Just know that if you're hearing from the older horror crowd that this film is not good I disagree with that. I think it's a generational thing and just recognize that there will be inherent Biases because of that now I say that coming from a person who's I mean, I'm going to be 40 this year So I'm not young when it comes to the horror crowd. I'm also not on the olden I guess I'm kind of middle-ish So I'm kind of straddling the line um There's a real focus on this In this film on real versus fake in our current world where Internet kind of blurs the lines between real and fake Especially if you kind of live part of or all of your life online You know consider the fact that there are people who's jobs are online, you know Think about streamers people who do youtube channels for a living things like that It's a very interesting aspect and this is why I say that You know, it's something that's relatively new from the last Decade or so So that's why that type of stuff is very much ripe for horror right now and just you know topic In general for film And a further point is made in this about what can get missed in the real world when you're so focused on your online world These are two separate worlds Sometimes they kind of come together, but a lot of times they are very separate and it's hard to tell In the you know virtual world. What is actually real? Versus what's going on in the real world and I think there's a good aspect of that playing out in this film There's another theme of play here as well Like I said that I will not talk about Because it will kind of give away some of the events of the film and I'm not interested in doing that I do want people to watch this film and I do want people to not know too much about it And be able to experience for themselves. So I think this is a good fun interesting independent horror film I'm glad to see another decent Shutter original film get added always glad when that happens. So Thumbs up on that one. So out of five stars with half stars in play. It's nothing insane I'm not doing crazy on this. I think it's a very solid three star film in my opinion So there you go. Check it out now If you have seen it when you're watching this or if you're going to see it Go ahead and after you've watched it put in the comments. Whatever you feel about it. Did you do you agree with me? Do you not agree with me? Do you or is it a little of this a little of that? Let's talk about it and go ahead spoilers in the comments. That is fine. We will do that So um other than that, I appreciate you checking this out. Do me a quick favor though Hit that subscribe button. Uh, that's your best way to repay me if you like this video Or any video I've ever done because I don't get paid to do this I'm just doing this for a good time trying to grow this nerdy horror community right here and just talk about horror films You know give people some information on it. But um, once again, like I said, I do appreciate you taking your time to check this out And until next time keep it brutal