 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 2019 release Z. Yes, it's literally one letter Z. It's a shutter original film and it's coming to shutter on Thursday May 7th I'm putting this review up ahead of time because I was fortunate enough to get a screener from shutter So thank you very much shutter for all the screeners that you send me just so people know I will review every screener That's available. It's usually for every a shutter exclusive and shutter original So you can come to my channel for that stuff. So thank you Anyway getting right into it. So this was a 2019 release is hitting shutter in 2020 Obviously directed by Brandon Christensen and the only other feature-length film that he's directed is still born Now I believe that one is currently streaming on shutter. So look into that check me on it I've not seen that film. So it was written by Christensen and a man by the name of Colin Minahan Now these two individuals haven't been involved in Well, Colin Minahan has written scripts for a bunch of other stuff He wrote scripts for Grave Encounters Grave Encounters 2 which I've seen the first Grave Encounters is pretty solid Extraterrestrial stillborn along with Christensen it stains the sands red Which I've heard some pretty decent things about and I plan to check out at some point What keeps you alive and spiral? which is I Think shutter might be getting that the film spiraled some point. I don't know So the main actress in this is Keegan Connor Tracy and if you watch this film She may look kind of familiar She was in the film white noise and she was also in final destination, too That's why she looks so familiar to me. I haven't seen white noise. I have seen I think all the final destinations Which you know say what you want about those films. They're fun at the least I have a good time with them like watching what how the death scenes You know play out is always pretty fun So like I said, it's a shutter original Everything's normal in this film in the beginning. It's very calm. It's it's kind of an establishing portion It gives you the idea that everything's normal and how do we go from normal to not normal? And we're gonna end up finding that out Real quick though no spoilers with this since it's not hit shutter yet So no spoilers on this one so you can watch this Review all the way through if you have or have not seen it. It'll be fine either way The music is done pretty well in this. I like the execution of the music I do think there are a few times especially early on in the film where maybe they use the music a little too much Where they're kind of leading the audience by the hand a little too much telling you how to feel where maybe You know kind of taking the intensity of music back a little bit maybe using a little more silence Would have been a little more effective Kind of let the audience feel some of the scenes out for themselves instead of being led more I'm a big fan of that in film where it kind of you let the audience feel things as opposed to being like This is how you should be feeling about this so The acting for the most part the acting is Fine. It's okay except for Keegan Connor Tracy. She does a really good job. I really think she Brought a performance. She brought a real performance to this film And I think the the most interest I have in this film is because of her performance. She really sells it She did a great job with the script with what she was given. It's not a perfect film It's like I'm kind of half-and-half on it to be honest. There are things I really like there are things I really didn't like about this film, so but Keegan Connor Tracy is The brightest point in this film in my opinion There's a gradual onset of the issue in this film, which is actually pretty solid pacing at least first, you know when you kind of First get going because you understand in the beginning. Yes, it's a little bit slow We have to kind of establish things and then we're gonna get to a point where Things are gonna happen, but the problem is I also feel like this is a pretty uneven film at least story wise I was actually explaining to my wife that it was kind of it's kind of the situation for me where where the story kind of goes If it's a shape, it's like this interest level wise The problem is it comes down at the end and you really don't want it to come down at the end, but this film was Not all that interesting in the beginning But like I said, it's because they're establishing things then it becomes pretty interesting You get a few things going on and you're like, okay. We're like we're building towards something. We're doing we're getting there We're getting there and then it stagnates It really stagnates when it really shouldn't be stagnating at that point You really need to keep keep the tension up keep moving things forward keep things interesting and I think part of the reason that it stagnates so much is I wanted more effects and The effects they had in it were very quick A lot of it was kind of done more with like costuming and makeup and stuff like that Which is fine because keeping a low budget I understand that but you could have done a lot more low budget stuff like that Have more of that in there. You they really needed more because when it's actually in there. It's very quick and They just needed a lot more of that like a lot more of that to keep the interest they were relying too heavily on the main actress and Not enough on putting other interesting things in there It kind of just felt like everything was was kind of flopping around Around the actress and as she went through the film like she was creating the interest in it She was selling things, but everything around her was just kind of like Except for those few moments of the effects which they obviously needed more of There's a moment where things get really real really fast There is a really awesome catalyst moment for the interest to really start in the film And I didn't see it coming and I was kind of like oh wow so that was a really cool moment It's just after that there was not really much more of that And you can't just have like one moment or two moments in a film like this and expect for people to really love it There's a lot of stress in this film. It's shown well and feels palpable for the audience So that's a part of Keegan Conor Tracy like really selling that she creates this awesome feeling of just stress within the film And that permeates to the audience like through the screen is you feel stressed watching her because she sells that performance so well The situation just like it ratchets up and it's like I said, it's all around her It's all what she creates with that character and the fact that as an audience member like you feel the tension You feel the stress that she's feeling is really nice And that's one of the the strong parts of this film in my opinion and there is a pretty solid concept to this actually There's a lot of familiarity to be honest with it It seems like it's inspired by a few other films, which you know at this point in time what isn't But it does have its kind of own idea on what it wants to do And I appreciate that but it's just the execution of it Like I said, you know, it stagnates a bunch where it really shouldn't be stagnating and that's one of the problems You need to find a way to kind of keep it super interesting Uh spousal issues really can ramp up when you don't agree on how to raise your child and how to deal with behavioral issues That's kind of something that comes up in this Um, it wasn't like a main point of the film But there is a lot that goes around um because it's a family unit and there's a lot that kind of goes around Uh the relationship of mother father and child because it's a mother father and child It's only three people So it's kind of like what is the dynamic there and and when disagreements happen about raising a kid Especially when behavioral issues come up or something wrong is happening with the kid You know, how do you deal with that? How do you hash that out? You know, are you going to come together and compromise and have a united front? Or is someone going to try to undermine another person and then obviously it's going to create some real problems So it's interesting from the standpoint of the family dynamics that it creates And I think it fleshes those dynamics out in an interesting way And it feels pretty realistic to be honest. So From that aspect that writing was well done with the script so Like I said, I'm like 50 50 on this there's good and there's not so good so You have times of questioning if the perspective you're given in this film is reliable Which I like because when you when you get the audience to start questioning what they're seeing or How they're feeling That that that means because it's pretty good writing. So I really enjoyed those parts And there were a few of those parts where you're kind of like I was thinking along these lines because of the perspective that were given in this But now I'm kind of questioning that and is it maybe along these lines? And I shouldn't be trusting what I'm seeing here. So I like when those things happen After things get interesting It really stagnates. Like I said, I saw the ending coming. I didn't see it coming Super early but within You know a few minutes of the actual ending happening I saw that ending coming. I don't like that. But you know, that's more of how I watch films I I'm consistently like thinking ahead, especially when I'm watching for reviews. I'm Looking at them through an analysis lens. So But the way I felt about the ending was You know, it wasn't a great ending to be honest. They could have done a lot more with it and I wish they had It just didn't hit me. It didn't impact me So some after the film thoughts here, I do think the directing was handled well It looked pretty good. Cinematography was pretty solid So, yeah, like there were a few cool shots in there as well. So it looked pretty good This film gave me a boba duke feel a little bit with an aspect of a plot idea from paranormal activity And I won't tell you which paranormal activity because they're like what four of them at this point Three or four. I don't know. I've only watched like the first Two, I think two and a half actually but anyway, those are my feelings. So I got a little boba duke feel I got a little plot point feel from paranormal activity And this is what I was talking about where it feels inspired by some other films those films in particular The trailer for this film looked great. I saw it actually last night before I watched the movie today and it was in between the two, um, joe bob's Joe bob movies, uh, because that's what shutter does They'll show the first joe bob film and then they'll do a trailer or two for movies that are either on shutter or coming to Shutter and then they do his next one and this this was one of the trailers and I saw the trailer. I was like, wow, that looks fantastic It looks great The trailer Sets the expectation crazy high whoever put that trailer together did an unbelievable job putting it together because it looks great The film is not that like it it is a Misrepresentation I would recommend people not watch the trailer until after you've seen the movie maybe Because it sets your expectation up here and it's really more Middling it's closer to the middle The movie is very familiar because it's very well trodden material Like I said how it feels inspired by other stuff and I'm sure I'm not I won't be the only person to watch it and think this feels very familiar a lot of aspects to this feel familiar This speaks a lot to fears of something going wrong with your child Especially right under your nose once again going back to that family dynamic But also how you feel about raising kids, you know, that's something I personally don't understand I don't have children I'm never gonna have children and when I see movies like this it makes me happy Oh, it like reaffirms my choice to not have kids because you know these types of movies play heavily on the You know what happens when there's a kid involved like obviously you want to look out for yourself But you have to look out for the kid as well and a lot of times you end up becoming more concerned about the kid than yourself So that's fully on display in this and I think they do a relatively good job with that aspect of it There's a struggle for trying to create some sort of normalcy after things In life have gone off the rails and the question it kind of creates a question like how do you do that? And can you even do that? So it raises some interesting thoughts feelings and questions And that's why I'm saying like there's some positives to this film There there's some real thought that went into this and some things that were executed quite well The film depicts a version of being stuck in a controlling relationship. That's another thing So there are a lot of kind of like Bits of underlying themes to it that really make you think if you really Want to go down those roads and obviously I'm type of person who does so I enjoy that about about a film Where it kind of makes you think past the film And this one did that in a few moments So what would I say for this film rating wise out of five stars with half stars in play? Like I said, I'm like 50 50. So I got to give it two and a half stars There are obviously some things that are quite good Keegan connor tracy's performance was really good This directing was was well executed. The cinematography was good. It looked nice There were some special effects in it that looked good I thought they just needed a lot more special effects the the story really stagnates at certain points. It doesn't feel Super original although there are a few original flourishes thrown in there Um, they just needed more and like I was saying like the the effects There were some very low budget effects You could have just done with makeup basically And just had more of those kind of like real quick cuts Because where you don't need to focus on it too much Don't give people too much time to like really look and see Oh, the quality of this isn't the best because they didn't have a high budget like you They do that. They just needed a lot more of that. So Anyway, two and a half stars I would be interested to see what other people think about this Put your comments down there if you've already seen it or if you go watch it and then you come back and comment I would be interested to see other people's takes I'm sure I kind of feel like this is kind of a 50 50. Some people really like it simple people really won't um, you know Whatever. So anyway, thanks for checking this out real quick. Hit that subscribe for me That's your way to repay me because I'm not getting paid for any of this stuff I'm just throwing reviews out there for free. So your way to repay me is just hit that subscribe The other thing is if you're gonna do the subscribe, uh, hit that notification bell too So, you know, whenever I'm dropping videos because they're not always the same I always have one on saturday and sunday, but I've been doing random ones here and there Based off what's coming up. Uh, what's coming up my shutter Originals and exclusives. I usually don't do for the weekends. I'll throw them during the week So you might get a monday. You might get a wednesday a tuesday. It depends But um, thanks everyone for checking this out regardless Give me a thumbs up if you want to and until next time keep it brutal