 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2019 film that is a shutter exclusive and will be coming to shutter Thursday the 28th of May So I'm putting this review out early. This is yet another one of my screener copies So thank you very much shutter for hooking me up with this this is a film confessional and I want to say off the bat before I get into my review that first of all it's no spoilers since it's not on shutter yet, so if you want to watch the film you can watch this and then watch the film and it won't really ruin any any events of the film or Not even thematic stuff at this point So I'm not gonna go too much into that because there isn't a ton of that to it The other thing I want to say is that I am not the demographic for this film basically and I will kind of get a little bit into That as I talk about it Just consider the fact that I'm 39 years old, so I'm almost 40 So this is more for a younger generation and it's you see that in a few things Subject matter is one of the things also There are a few things kind of in the filmmaking style that are different and kind of some of the issues that are brought up within the film are more Pertinent to a younger generation, although, you know, it's stuff that shows up in other things It's just through the lens of a much younger generation. So This film is directed by Brad T. Gottfried who did Directive films called the movie hero and orgies and the meaning of life Sounds interesting. That's an interesting title written by Jennifer Wolfe who has actually not really done any other feature length script writing Like I said, it's a shutter exclusive Lucas Adams I want to I want to point out that this actor Lucas Adams who actually looks a little bit like KJ Appa For people who know Riverdale He's the best actor in this He actually did quite a nice job and that's kind of one of my biggest issues with the film in general Is that the acting is not that great? and it's It's kind of serviceable and it would be even more so if it was done in in like a normal Filmmaking mode, but it's kind of done as like a quasi found footage film. So When you do something like that You really need the actors to be really strong and to really sell their performances as being real life as being like It's found footage like someone is acting normally for who they are as a person and I don't feel like that came through in this The script is is a solid script when you really kind of like pay attention to it But the acting just didn't it didn't deliver it well because this script needed very strong actors To really sell a quasi found footage film because that's all you have in this film pretty much It is confessional. It takes place almost solely inside a confessional booth So all you have is the actors to rely upon you. You don't have anything else You don't have creatures. You don't have practical effects special effects CG You don't have any of that stuff to distract from the acting that's going on right in front of you So those actors had to really really really be convincing and for the most part they're not although Lucas Adams Did a really good job, but he's one character amongst a bunch And he doesn't get nearly enough screen time in my opinion for how good of an actor He was now I will say some of the actors and actresses actually improve as the film goes on a little bit But once again, I just I don't feel like the performances were were sold I don't think it feels realistic to what's actually going on and that's the biggest downfall this film in my opinion now Like I said, it's set up as a quasi found footage film not a bad idea You know, it's kind of a tired thing, but the fact that it's not straight-up found footage It's kind of like a quasi found footage idea. That's fine Now the directing is done relatively well for this and part of the reason being is it's kind it's set in this You know confessional booth, so you're gonna have stationary cameras now They do have cameras positioned in different places in the booth And there are some kind of like weird asides where like the it'll switch to the view of like one on the side of a Character and while they're supposed to be like talking they kind of like look over to the camera But it doesn't make sense like that they would actually do that when they're talking in this confessionals So they're just kind of like these weird moments like that, but for the most part directing is is pretty solid It looks relatively good The confessional booth has a cool look to it. I really like how they designed the confessional booth it You'll see what I mean There was some cool kind of like lighting strips added to it that are used to pretty cool effect Where they kind of change the color of the lighting and a lot of it has to do with what's going on in the film So it's it like signals different moods in a sense and I like that aspect of it The changing in the lighting was cool. The booth in general looks really cool very sleek very It also makes it like a little bit scary and mysterious at the same time and I like that about it The music is actually good in this too. I thought they did a really good job It has a lot of kind of like low rough scratchy noises that kind of conveys a little bit of discomfort a little bit of tension And yeah music was good and it was well used Like I said acting It's the biggest problem with this How the story's told lends itself to making a very low-budget film that doesn't feel like more money was actually needed for it Now like I said, they were just really needed to get you know for the most part better actors but When you look at it from a money standpoint like you know set design costuming Effects all that type of stuff with the story that's being told and within the parameters that they do it Which is just this confessional booth You don't feel like they needed more money to do a whole lot more because of the world They kind of create it's like okay This is what it is and you kind of accept that premise so it was a good job establishing that It's so many times when you're watching low-budget films You're like oh man if they only had a higher budget if they only had a higher budget for this one It's just if they only had some better acting so which It's not a good thing There's text that ends up being intercut With the confessional interviews which I feel is a little bit odd And it kind of takes you out of the flow of things from time to time and it also like some of what gets put it in text Seems like it's very Inconsequential and that it they should have not taken away from what that what momentum they were building at that point Some of these things seem very trivial and it's just like It's just there because and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's like okay It also tells you things that should be conveyed through the acting and the story Which this type of stuff really drives me crazy Show me tell me through the acting of the actor. Tell me through the dialogue Tell me through what the story is going through do not do not have this text come up and tell you What you were supposed to get out of a section of someone Acting out of someone's dialogue and they do that They don't do it a lot But they do that a few times and that's the type of stuff that really really bothers me because that kind of says hey Stupid audience member. Let me tell you where you're supposed to get out of this. I can get it if the film's good I'll get it. So that's just one thing that really really bothers me is when Filmmakers insult the intelligence of their audience. I don't dig that The the lighting color changes are talked about that that I quite enjoyed now text messages come up in this like actually on the screen And this is interesting because I I can see like some people in older generations like my generation And older who would see this in film and just be like that's that's weird. We don't need that but we do It's for a younger generation and it's being done by a younger generation of filmmakers and that's a very big part of life right now so It's incorporation into film is important and it makes a whole lot of sense So I'm good with it and honestly the way they integrated it into this film I thought it worked it didn't feel out of place It didn't feel clunky or anything like that and the fact that they put it up kind of like on the side of the screen So you could still see the actor and everything that was well placed and well done The editing is pretty good with this film too by the way that kind of leads me to that There's some inch inch. Sorry increase in interest when it seems they're trying to solve a mystery finally in this But for the first like 25 minutes, they're establishing characters So that goes a little bit slow. It really does drag once you hit get past that 25 minute mark You start to be like, oh, there's something that we're gonna work to solve here, basically Now that lead me leads me to another thing about this film is is it a horror film? No I don't really think it's a horror. Are there some kind of horrific type elements to it sure But it's super light. It is more of like a mystery quasi thriller I guess But a lot of it is drama it seems like it kind of falls into that kind of like teen drama realm But a little bit more adult Kind of like a Riverdale or something like that now. I'm not saying that to slam it. I'm just saying generationally Me being like 39 I don't connect with it as much So maybe a younger crowd would really connect with it more and I could see that The other thing is I will just say like I watch Riverdale. I actually like Riverdale So it's not a slam when I say that something's like Riverdale I like it. I think it's well done. I mean, yes, it's on the lighter side, but It's good But yeah, so just know that about this. It's got that feel to it There's such a focus on Substances and that's at least early on about drugs and alcohol and the abuse of those things that it kind of starts to feel a little bit like a PSA, you know, like those old PSAs would be like just say no to drugs and like interviews with like I used to have a friend and then they started doing drugs and then I lost him for Like there's some of that in there that you're just like, okay, we're hitting this a little bit hard Let's take it back a little bit like you can talk about it You can address it in the film, but it felt like they kept going after it a lot to the point where it was very preachy about that And it's like everyone knows drugs are bad Let's move on There is a I'm not gonna spoil this but there's a premise introduced in the story that seems to be really far-fetched It doesn't actually I thought it was gonna play a much larger role in the grand scheme of things And it didn't which I was very glad about because it's so far-fetched that if they were Hanging their hat on this as as something to be super significant in it that I was gonna be like no nope No, but they didn't they kind of like got away from it relatively quickly. So I was like, thank goodness, but a Really weird premise that just does not work So kind of the wrap up a little bit some of my final thoughts on it in order for this film to really work The actors had to sell it because that's all there is to it They're just not selling it in this except for Lucas Adams in my opinion It's definitely more for a high school or college audience It feels like a more adult version of something like Riverdale, which I said it's very much driven by young drama There's there like some kind of gossipy elements to it It is very high school college drama type thing now that said for those generations for that audience It does Tackle a lot of kind of current societal issues So I could see it being very topical for people like that and really engaging and relatable So yeah a lot comes up dealing with male and female struggles in the current societal climate. So it is very Reflective of our current times. So that's good. I mean that's what a lot of What a lot of horror does but this is like I said, it's not really a horror But anyway, it's for that reason. It's it did a good job of kind of relating to Society and how things are currently so As you can tell I'm not a huge fan of this like I said, it's Generationally, this is not for me. There are some things I appreciate about it, which I laid out in this There's some things I really didn't I just think that With a much better cast this could have been a much more interesting and better film and It just kind of sucks and I guess that is a part where the budget does come into it because you can't get much better Actors when you don't have the money to pay these much better actors. So It's unfortunate, but alright with five stars possible half stars in play I'm gonna give this a one and a half star rating. I know that seems harsh, but you know But just remember this is a personal thing. This is for me personally There may be people out there who feel very differently about this and I would say I just like that people do film So even when I'm slamming a film like this and giving it one and a half stars for me personally It doesn't mean that I don't appreciate that the filmmakers are making film I do and I have a lot of respect for that because am I making film? No, is that a hard thing to do? Yes, so I do appreciate that Anyway, thanks for checking this out Please put comments down here, especially if you feel differently about this film or you want to talk about it We can do that we can do spoilers down there And then do me a quick favor give me a thumbs up if you like any videos I do that's your best way to repay me It literally takes you a second and it's totally painless And if you are gonna subscribe if you want to know when I have new videos coming out Or you want to know when I'm starting my live streams, which I'm doing every other weekend Hit that notification bell and you will get those notifications Also, if you've already subscribed go ahead and hit thumbs up on my videos just to keep me encouraged and Yeah, thank you, but thanks for spending your time watching this and until next time keep it brutal