Unsound

As someone who has watched Britt's videos for quite some time, my expectations for this film were high. And, to be honest with you, I was disappointed on first viewing.

Seafood Tester wasn't perfect, but it had a kind of magic to it. It's little flaws were made up for by it's uniquely powerful character drama and dynamic storytelling.

Unsound feels like someone took the technical skill and magic of Seafood Tester and stretched it out like Silly Putty over the one and a half hour runtime. And, as we all remember from our childhoods, Silly Putty begins to get stringy and snap at a certain point.

The cinematography isn't always the smoothest. Actors individual capabilities varied from meh to amazing. The film always looked hyper-digital but never sharp, (I wasn't sure if it was the lighting or the camera itself, but the softness of the film and sterility of the image quality overstayed its aesthetic welcome after the first hour or so.) and the fact that the film never quite left the uncanny valley between an uncomfortably accurate self-insert alternate reality and a true biopic made me uncomfortable as a viewer. Is he telling his own story, or telling a fantasized version of it? Is the lead actor Darius by necessity or choice? Both options scared me equally in different ways.

Confused as to why Britt's magum opus looked like an above-average film student's passion project rather than the sharp, tight, and colorful short films he has recently produced, I turned to a very special and very helpful resource he left along with the project - a feature length documentary on the agonizing journey that this film has taken from script to screen, spanning 5 years of constant hammering.

This altered my perception of this film wildly.

The documentary gave Britt two very, very precious tools for his audience with the release of the documentary - empathy, and context.

I'm not going to go over the documentary point by point, but the general feeling I left with was that this film was a hard-fought battle against all odds, and it took everything Britt had to get it to this point. And, once I understood why things were this way or that, the story behind this, and the purpose behind that, my complaints began to melt away. First of all, a majority of the technical issues can be attributed to the films age, and Britt's general lack of experience at the time. Despite the fact it was just made available to the public a few short weeks ago, this film began shooting in 2011, which was practically a decade ago. As an artist myself, I get frustrated at things I made a few mere months ago, so I can't imagine how much Darius has improved since, and, knowing his skill and character, how much he wishes he could go back and do things better. Britt was in a position many filmmakers find themselves trapped in early in their career - too good to waste their time on shorts, but not quite good enough to do a full-on feature film. And it is my sincere belief that Britt was correct in his decision to make this story feature length despite his lack of resources and technical ability, as the story is outstanding and deserves every hour of labor this film took to make in order to get it out to the world.

Now, I'm a filmmaker myself. I know how absolutely brutal this experience was for Britt and everyone around him. And after watching the documentary, I can't help but feel like young Darius was a divine but humble prophet, burdened with a task far greater than himself but still making the decision to push through and make it a reality. Through this divine quest, his storytelling became the vessel for one of the finest expressions of mental illness (and living with it) to hit the silver screen.

An impressively disciplined first feature from youtuber Darious Britt, who showcases his filmmaking advice in a tightly scripted and edited drama about a good hearted young man whose life begins to suffer due to his determination to assist his deeply troubled mother. The performances by Britt and To-Ree-Nee-Wolf are excellent, subtle and convincing. The supporting performances vary a little as some roles were most likely not played by professional actors but they all hold up and are never distracting. The story is compact and fast paced, lacking the self indulgent long shots and overly moody silences that have become as cliched as any blockbuster formulas. The low budget does show from time to time, as the camera they used, a Canon C300, is not a particularly cinematic image and there's a few too many shots in cramped apartments and undecorated hospitals and offices, but the editing and acting is so good that these are very minor complaints. Arizona is shown as a sparsely populated stretching piece of land that fits the theme of a young man seemingly alone in a desperate situation. The messages are conveyed simply and honestly, and avoid overly manipulative melodrama. The movie has a goal and it achieves it in short. It is a perfect example of story and character trumping budget and scale. A highly recommended watch that is moving and sincere.

A story like his could only be told through an indy filmmaker. If you, someone you care about, or are friends with someone who is dealing with a serious mental illness parts of this film will get you right where all that stuff lives.

You can break down just about any scene in this movie and enjoy it from a technical standpoint. The writing and acting is top notice as well. When thing come together like there sometimes magic happens and this hits that magic mark.

It's like a chunk out of the character Regi's life. It's not his mom's fault she's sick. It's not his fault he has to take care of her (he does mention he could be an a hole and dump her in some hole but that wouldn't be cool). It's life with someone who is mentally ill without the societal lens on. Mr Brit doesn't seem to pull any punches when it comes to sharing what it is like first hand. It takes a lot of courage to put something personal like that out there to be judged by others via a film.

If you only watch indy films once in a while this is one to catch. Darius Brit's done some short films that are worth checking out as well.

Back in early 2017, I wanted serious advice on film making. So, being fifteen, I took to YouTube and the channel "D4DARIOUS" came up first. I clicked on it and it led me down a path of brilliant film making advice.

Now, let's talk about "UNSOUND". So, I first came across "UNSOUND" earlier THIS year because Mr. Darious Britt decided to release it on YouTube two years after its world premier. I thought this film was beautiful. It was a masterclass in low-budget film making. Also, this film is about Mental Health and the struggles that come with that.... Some would say that the topic of Mental Health is touchy... But, it is something that needs to be spoken about. Mr. Britt himself said this: "I just didn't think there were many films out there that portrayed mental health the way that it is, or the way I see it, anyway." This is the quote that is perfect for this film because I felt the same and it just resonated with me in every aspect. Also, every shot in this film has been thought out well and perfected beautifully. The screenplay is utterly brilliant and the acting is amazingly on point. If Mr. Britt does ever see this review I'd like to say thankyou for putting this story out there. It's beautiful and the film making aspect is second to none. If you love film or just want to watch something for filling, then watch this film. Nothing but a masterclass in film making and storytelling.

I had been a regular viewer of Britt's YouTube videos for many years. In fact, he was one of the first youtubers I watched that got me into filmmaking. I had been anticipating his film for many years, however I didn't have reasonably high expectations given the clear financial limitations of Mr. Britt.

I was pleasantly surprised though.

It's clear that the performances are top notch, so despite occasional moments of narrative drag, the film usually kicks back into gear with its powerful acting and its uncanny ability to accurately portray the mental illness within its subject matter.

The film is obviously not perfect-its execution is much more autobiographical than narrative, but I'm still left with the same feeling I get whenever I watch a D4Darious video; a deep an abiding appreciation of moviemaking.