 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2020 film host and yes, it is a shutter original It is hitting shutter on Thursday, July 30th. So I'm putting this up just two days prior I just got a screener for it and I went through it and let me say that it's very digestible this film because it's under an hour So if you hear what I'm saying in this no spoilers review and you're like, I don't know. Should I check it out? Should I not check it out? I'm still undecided. It's less than an hour So I would just say just do it and I would actually recommend checking it out because at least for me This is my first COVID film. Yes This is a film that was actually done under quarantine conditions where they actually just had the actors doing their own filming basically with input from the director and For that situation, I think they pulled it off pretty well It's very believable the way they set up the film But I'll talk more about that in a minute or so after I go over some other things about this. So Directed by Rob Savage who's mainly just done short films at this point. I mean, this is his first feature length Even though it's under an hour. I'd still count it as feature length he did Films such as strings and another one that I found very interesting the title dawn of the death I kind of want to seek that one out and check it out because it sounds intriguing Written by Savage as well as Gemma Hurley who did a film shoot for the moon and Jed Shepard who was also involved with dawn of the death and a film called multiplex also a short film So these are people who have mainly done short films So this is a big deal for them to then do this and based off of what I've seen I would like to see more from these individuals. That would be really cool Especially with how creative they got in making this COVID film or quarantine film or however you want to put it This is like I said, yeah, it was shot under quarantine conditions. So the for that reason the actual, you know Visual quality of the cameras is different But they do it in a way that it works now I say that but this is actually a film that if you didn't have the information saying Oh, this is shot under quarantine conditions and you know have the specifics of how it was done You would still think that this is a film that would just be made Nowadays because it's going down the path of the found footage film But it's incorporating into something like a zoom or a Skype, which obviously we're all very familiar with now And for that reason it actually becomes very relatable because you're seeing this world through a lens That we're all going through right now that is not comfortable that is a horror in its own right and It's interesting that this film is kind of through the lens of the horror that we're all sharing right now depicting another horror that plays out on the screen so it becomes relatable and then it goes further so it's It's cool for that reason. It'll Have a better job of sucking people in and making people feel like they know the characters And it's not just for the way that it's shot and the way that it's executed But it's also because the acting I think is quite good for what they were trying to do here the actors Really sell their parts and they make it feel very natural since it's like a found footage type deal or I Feel like we got to come up with something different because it's not really found footage I mean it is in a sense because it's that style. It's done that way But it's done through computers through like a chat So I feel like we have to coin some sort of new term like chat footage film Which sounds dumb, but I don't know you come up with something better and put it down in the comments Let's let's figure this one out But anyway, they do a really good job putting it together and a lot of it is it gets really well sold by the actors but Let me backtrack a second and give you a quick synopsis because I've been doing that for these no spoiler reviews It's not much of a synopsis to be honest since it's such a short film Basically a bunch of friends doing a zoom chat during quarantine times and they decide to do a seance online Which I think is an interesting concept in itself and this is why I'm talking about I like the creativity of this film You're taking a situation. That's a crappy situation. It's definitely not ideal for making a film in and you're saying What can we do? How do we get around this? How do we make this work? And like I said the film itself doesn't play like oh, they made this because it's COVID times It plays like I would expect that I would see this type of film anyway because we've already gotten some films kind of like this prior to COVID times so Well done on that front in my opinion because it doesn't have that caveat with it although when I'm watching the film and I know that the how it was shot it does make me feel a little different about it because I Know the challenges that they had to go through and if you know those challenges while you're watching it It does give you even more of an appreciation for things that they pull off and how the overall film comes together. So nice it definitely feels real life it really really feels real life and I actually just want to give a shout out to the actors who I thought did a particularly good job in this Haley Bishop Gemma Moore Emma Louise Webb Radina Drandova Caroline Ward and Edward Lennard you guys did a nice job You made the roles feel very very natural and the other thing is I don't know if they Necessarily scripted dialogue because it feels like it was improv Which if they did script this dialogue and it feels improv Good job on that because when I say improv it feels natural, you know, they're talking to each other They definitely feel like friends. You kind of don't even need backstory necessarily because you don't really get back story, but you feel like you don't need it because You just feel like you're an audience member just kind of jumping into someone to zoom chat and all these friends are just Joking around with each other talking about this or talking about that that's amongst themselves And you just feel like a little bit of like a voyeur in that sense, but it works It works well and like I'm saying they did a great job of making you feel like these people actually know each other Having really good banter and that speaks to another thing of their comedic moments in this that come up usually through dialogue I think all the comedic moments are through dialogue and They work they hit they they feel natural none of them feel like these forced jokes It feels like naturally how these friends would joke around with each other or really any friends It feels kind of universal and for that reason you're seeing this and you're thinking back to well I mean this feels very similar to when I just had a zoom with my friends It's very similar even people are drinking during it It's the whole virtual happy hour thing that has become a big craze now and rightfully so There's just so much that becomes relatable for this There is some comfort in that with the film and I don't know I mean maybe that kind of makes me a little biased to kind of like it for that reason but When I feel like when you're going through something that's tough and when everyone's going through something that's tough when a film like this comes along and Speaks to what you're going through and then turns it into something else. I don't know I just feel like there's there's this nice connection and it's kind of this Validation of oh, yeah, I'm going you know Everyone else is going through this too because we have a tendency to kind of forget that Since you know we're staying in our houses for the most part So, you know, you'll talk to someone here or there but to see a film like this makes you kind of think more That's right. I'm not in this alone. Like we're all experiencing this and you know, here are these there's this filmmaker and these Actors who have put together a pretty solid film During these times and that speaks to we should all be creative, you know like these people there's always a way to entertain yourself to get things done even when there's something in your way like COVID and this film I think speaks a lot to that Not not the content of it just the fact that it was made and how it was made just saying and the fact that it's pretty solid I enjoyed it So another one of the good things about this is the pacing of it the way they paste it makes it seem real life as well So good job on that one. They actually acknowledge the covid situation. They actually talk about it It's not just shot in covid times like they talk about it. They have things related to covid in it. So that's good as well The funny moments like I said it nice. They actually hit. There's not a ton though There's not a lot and I think that's good because otherwise it could end up kind of distracting from what they're really trying to do Which is build some tension What is really interesting about this is that doing a film this way Naturally builds in the ability for the audience to forgive certain things that that look weird or are kind of off about the film Like prime example there. There's a portion of the film where one of the actors is Over exposed, you know, there's a lot of sunlight coming in their face looks like white basically But you but it's it's fine like I started thinking about it because I'm trying to like, you know really pick it apart But when I noticed that I was like it's been going on for a little bit And I just kind of noticed that that's what's going on because it's done such a good job of immersing you in this is real life These are just friends doing a zoom call and you believe that, you know, the lighting's not that good necessarily Like how many zoom calls have you done with people or Skypes where someone's like sitting in the dark basically their lighting's terrible Or they're sitting and it's like totally overexposed and you can barely see them It's fine a few other things that happen is like video lag ends up happening not a lot But from time to time and like audio getting garbled which that's what happens with with skype and and zoom So I don't know if those were intentionally done or not But it feels normal like and those are things that if it's in a film that's Done otherwise in a different context you would be like, ooh, that's a mess up But with this it's the audience is just like, oh, you know, it just feels like it goes with this real life scenario It's normal. So it's just a interesting observation Yeah, so like I said, it's under an hour. So honestly just watch it. I think it's solid and it under an hour It's not that much of a commitment. Just do it Plus, I think we should really support people who have put something like this together during these times because that's a good amount Of work and there's a lot of creativity at work here There's no score. That's another thing. I really want to point out I am big on a good use of silence and this does that quite well I think it really helps with building up tension throughout the film and Yeah, I mean, I think this film is actually a prime example of how it can be very powerful to not actually have a score to a film You may not even notice it for quite a while But it took me until about not quite halfway through the film But maybe close and I was just like, oh, there's no music You don't need it if you're doing the film properly You don't need it and especially in this context where you know, you're you're immersed in this in this world And it's kind of found footage. It feels real. There wouldn't be a soundtrack There would there would be no score to it. So it works. It works really well There's an interesting concept that's actually introduced into this About something that can happen during the seance and I kind of like that that means that they kind of Saw it to introduce something kind of new one of their own takes on something like this They could have just taken this concept and just done the same old stuff. They didn't and thankfully so so I like that There's something employed in this it was done in paranormal activity the first one, which I just noticed it I'm just like, oh, that was done in paranormal activity, but it works. Well, it's good. I like it There's also something that was done in the first saw film. Don't worry. That's not any sort of spoiler or anything It it was something very minor done in the first saw film that's done in this as well But once again, it works. They took some influences from established films Incorporated it into theirs and most people probably wouldn't pick up on it But that's because the stuff fits in there naturally and it works. Well, looks good And the final thing I have to say about this the way they did the end credits for it Very clever. I really like that it kind of sticks with the whole theme of the film and the feel of it It doesn't take you out of things until the very end where there's some credits With a black screen and white text, but very clever very cool. So anyway, this isn't like the best film I've ever seen but given the situation and how it's very relatable at this point I think they did a pretty good job. I enjoyed it. So out of five stars with half stars in play I'm gonna give it a solid three star rating and say definitely check it out Especially because it's it's short and you should definitely be supporting people who make films like this in times like this But thanks everyone for checking this out Put some comments down there when you see the film we can do spoilers down there And then do me a quick favor and hit that subscribe button if you like any reviews I do any videos I do I would really appreciate that It means a lot to my channel and it means a lot to me personally if you do subscribe And if you are gonna subscribe or you have make sure you hit the notification bell and that way you know any time I'm putting up, you know any new videos or doing any live streaming or anything like that But regardless I appreciate your time and until next time keep it brutal