Followers

FOLLOWERS is meant to be a "twisty" movie, so one has to be especially careful about spoilers. A central question it asks is how easy it would be to harm social media personalities, given that they open up much of their private lives for public consumption?

After an unsettling prologue, this found footage movie opens by giving a fast run of the development of two people from humble beginnings as internet nobodies to social media celebrities, their meeting each other and becoming a couple.

Being young, fit, beautiful and successful, they seem like an ideal couple, but the movie reveals soon that at least some of it is just appearances (as one might expect). In particular, they go on a camping trip during which it becomes especially clear how far apart they really are. At the conclusion of the first act, they are attacked at the camping site by what appear to be two thugs. This is followed by a major plot twist, so I will say no more.

The basic idea behind this movie is actually very good, and the execution of this idea at least for much of the second act is also not too bad. But then, it introduces a second major twist at the end of the second act which, though not inherently bad, is executed quite poorly.

If there ever was a movie example that makes a strong case for filming a movie as a combination of found footage and narrative footage, I think this is it. That is not even a new idea: the granddaddy of found footage movies, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980) is actually a narrative footage/found footage combo.

As best as I can tell, a lot of the considerable problems in the third act stem from the film's insistence on remaining a found footage movie. Had it switched along with the second major twist to a narrative movie, it would have been for example a lot easier to characterize the unexpected new threat. As it is, all we have a is poor caricature.

Simply put, when there is a group of characters in a found footage movie who do not film themselves, then this presents a challenge because the only possibility left to still have them in the movie is to have them be filmed by others. Many found footage films overcome this challenge by using plot devices such as having a security camera in each room of a house and so on, but it is hard to implement this when the setting is out in the woods. All that is left is filming the group members from a distance, which makes it virtually impossible to get a sense of who they are, what they want and why we should care.

So what we have, then, is a very good idea with an okay execution of the first two acts and a nosedive of the third. That is really a pity, especially since the third act actually gives a new and unexpected meaning to the movie's title.

When a film decides to wrong-foot the audience with pretty large twists and turns, as this does, things could either become very good or very bad. It's a risk I applaud the makers for.

To begin with, the characters are pretty obnoxious, but as events spiral, we are encouraged to feel sorry for them, and see that their lives lived on vlogs are merely self-promoting and not really doing anyone any harm. Then things go beyond that. Then things go beyond *that.* Do events become ridiculous? Oh yes.

For my money, the first third of the film is okay - we get past the hopelessly-in-love perfect-couple and into an intriguing premise. The second act is where everything is turned on its head and things get very creepy and entertaining. The third act is where another layer is added - but unfortunately this final twist is badly (and hurriedly) executed. However, it does go some way to debunking the mushiness of the opening sequences via some home truths from the character of Brooke (Amanda Delaney), and for that it earns an extra point.

A mixed bag then, but commendable nonetheless, despite a tepid finale. My score is 7 out of 10.

It's hard to believe how atrociously this film derails in the last section, being up to that point actually quite entertaining. First we follow two social-media stars who have a seemingly perfect relationship and are going camping for their first anniversary. We see all this through the vlogs they film of themselves. Then we are shown another set of 'found-footage' clips by a couple of documentarians who want to prove the dangers of exposing private details online. They choose the mentioned couple as the target of their project and start following them.

I won't spoil anything, but some of the things that happen halfway in the film are creepy and mysterious, so it interests the viewer to see how it all unfolds in the end. It turns out there is no scary reveal or resolution. What happens is completely stupid and random, not to mention horribly executed. It surely is unexpected, but it's terrible. For most of the film the acting is impressive and the characters feel real, until this last part. It almost feels like they're mocking the audience, getting increasingly ridiculous toward the end. They deliver a reflective message regarding social media in the final shot but even the shot itself is so ludicrous it can't be taken seriously. A waste of what could have been a cool flick.

AKA Followed. Mate of mine lent me this on DVD, promising a "great" movie. Well, we obviously have different ideas as to the definition of that word. An annoyingly perfect Ken & Barbie social media couple, who film their every move - hence this is a found footage movie (yawn)- go camping in the woods. Not surprisingly this predictably turns out to be a bad idea. It does then turn into a found footage within a found footage movie, some credit for that. Sadly this film is incredibly slow & boring, despite a fairly short running time. The characters have no depth, they all just got on my nerves, and the end descends into something ridiculously bad. And if it's gore that you are after forget it.

I did hit FF a few times. Typical "girlfriend never been camping" and bad stuff is gonna happen story. Same scenario, interchangeable antagonists, insert actors here. Can't say I liked it and can't say I didn't. Useful as background distraction when doing something else.