Now available on VOD through Vimeo and iBleedIndie is the
Romanian found footage thriller that was written, produced, directed, edited,
and stars Adrian Tofei. He portrays a man who is willing to go to the most extreme
measures in order to convince Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway to star in his
movie. It is a brilliant character study and portrayal of a sociopathic
individual that is on the same level of the characters featured in Psycho,
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and Angst. With one of the most frightening
and realistic psychopaths put to film, this highly disturbing piece of
filmmaking has to be considered one of the very best and one of the most
realistic found footage movies ever made.
The story falls within the found footage subgenre and can be
described as part character study, horror film, and psychological thriller. The
success of this production is the believability of the characters, the
dialogue, and the actor’s performances. Everything about this feels real, as if
this were actual footage that had been compiled from a crime scene. The psychopathic
character is thoroughly fleshed out and we get small hints into what has led to
his behavior, while focusing on themes of obsession and possible multiple
personalities as he inhabits the character within his scripted film when
performing violent acts. Some viewers may find the ending to be flat or
incomplete. The one thing that would have helped would have been some type of notation
at the end like what was presented at the beginning, offering up the police
resolution.
The acting is excellent and it is what powers this feature,
something that you wouldn’t come to expect from either a low budget independent
film or a found footage feature. Tofei delivers a truly masterful performance
and deserves to be compared to the other actors in the motion pictures that
were mentioned above. The character portrayal has a great deal of depth and it changes
throughout, gradually moving from an innocent fanboy to an obsessive psychopath
who believes that he has is the character within his own film. His mood bounces
around from terrifyingly joyful to morbidly calm, making the use of found
footage frighteningly realistic. Sonia Teodoriu, Florentine Hariton, and
Alexandra Stroe are all superb portraying actresses brought in under false
pretenses in order for Adrian to perform his dark acts. Some reviews have been
critical of the naivety of the first two actresses, but I didn’t have an issue
with it. I think that when people are pursuing personal dreams they may often
overlook dangerous situations. The final exchange between Stroe and Tofei is terrific.
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| And I will change the world with you, Anne! |
It is a low budget feature that relies on found footage. So
there is a large amount of shaky camera movements that are common within the
subgenre. If you’re not a fan of these, then you should probably stay away from
this. There isn’t any particularly strong camera techniques used, which is most
likely a creative decision in order to achieve the most realistic shots
possible. There is one sequence that appeared to have the camera strategically placed
and was effective in its creepiness factor. Because of the low budget nature of
this production, there is virtually no blood or gore. There is one scene that
employs blood, but it is staged in a way that it ends up being covered up. Some
reviews have complained about this, but I didn’t have an issue with it since a
reason was given by the psychopath for his methods.
If you can handle found footage and enjoy character studies
about psychopaths, then this is highly recommended.
