Discovered footage films are powerful to drag off. For each basic like The Blair Witch Mission or Rec, there are 100 films like Slender and Megan Is Lacking which are, at finest, forgettable, and at worst, an affront to the very idea of cinema. My private favourite, although, is Lake Mungo, a gradual burn mockumentary with discovered footage parts that manages to be each creepy and emotionally wrenching. Oh, and it’s gloriously concise at underneath an hour and a half.
Lake Mungo is, at first, some of the convincingly realized mockumentary ever made. Should you advised somebody it was a legit documentary a couple of supposed haunting, there’s an opportunity they’d consider you. The fashion is spot-on, the performances pitch-perfect, and it by no means overreaches. Different horror movies on this fashion ultimately go too far, resorting to bombast, just like the BBC’s Ghostwatch (which can also be wonderful). However Lake Mungo stays understated, even when it exhibits purported footage of a ghost.
Director and author Joel Anderson hasn’t helmed a characteristic movie since. Although he has discovered work within the movie business just lately, together with on 2023’s Late Night with the Devil, after an over 10-year absence.
The story follows the Palmer household as they battle with the lack of 16-year-old Alice Palmer, who drowns whereas swimming in a lake. Mom June wanders her neighborhood late at night time, unable to sleep, father Russell buries himself in work, and brother Matthew throws himself into his artwork. As you’d most likely count on from one of these horror movie, the household begins experiencing unusual issues — sounds, mysterious bruises, and even a full-on confrontation with an apparition.
From right here, the movie takes a number of twists and turns that elevate it above your typical “pots and pans” horror, which I’ll keep away from spoiling. However its grainy, haunting segments and emotional interviews with the household get underneath your pores and skin. There’s no bounce scares, no gore, simply skilled stress constructing that ultimately reaches a terrifying conclusion. The picture on the climax of the movie is likely one of the most haunting single frames of cinema ever.
The selection of Palmer because the final title right here seems like an intentional nod to Twin Peaks, which additionally offers with the dying of a younger lady in a small city with secrets and techniques. Alongside the way in which, you uncover extra about Alice and the life she lived. She struggled to be seen for who she actually was, each in life and dying. And simply because the household lastly finds closure and decides to maneuver on, the movie makes its remaining large reveal.
As a result of the film spends its restricted run time getting you invested within the characters and constructing backstory, the ending hits onerous. If you need a horror movie that packs an emotional punch, that is it. It’s undoubtedly a downer of a flick, however one you’ll need to rewatch instantly.