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.

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.

This is Darius Brit's first full length movie, and it is absolutely worth seeing. It garnered Best Screenplay at the Phoenix Film Festival, and the honor was well deserved.

Unsound follows a young filmmaker played by Brit, as he attempts to put together a documentary film on VW Bugs while his mother descends into a devastating psychotic episode. He is all his mom has, since other relatives have distanced themselves from her galaxy of chaos. Her multifaceted sickness invades every aspect of his life. He struggles with the legal and medical systems, deadlines to get his project completed, the loss of friendships, and eviction and job loss due to his mother's erratic behavior. The film however, is so well done, that even with such an agonizing situation, there are moments of humor and tenderness throughout.

Unsound is autobiographical, and is based on true events in Mr. Brit's life. The acting is superb, with Toreenee Wolf giving an amazingly nuanced performance as Darolyn Cobert, the director's mom.

This movie is brilliant and beautiful. When you get a chance, go see it, and then go see it again.

It so refreshing to find a movie that delivers a sincere & serious message with no underlying agenda other than to educate and broaden awareness. Darious Britt's "Unsound" does just that. The film delivers a "right between the eyes" look into the world of mental illness. Unsound avoids all sensationalism and emotional gimmickry and delivers its' message with a very real "it is what it is" style.

Unsound follows the relationship of Regi, a young filmmaker, and his schizophrenic Mother. We watch as Regi fights not just his Mom, but the entire mental health system that values patient privacy and integrity in lieu of patient health. In a particularly heartbreaking scene we see Regi wait an entire day (shrieking his own responsibilities and other relationships) in an attempt to speak to his Mother's Doctor. The Doctor, scheduled to deem the Mother well and return her to society the following day, refuses to see or even speak to Regi due to patient confidentiality.

At its' core, Unsound is a film about love and relationships. There are numerous ways to categorize its' genre, but my personal take would be to call it a love story. It is a poignant, heartbreaking look into the lives of a son and the mentally ill mother he cares for. There are beautiful loving moments and there are moments of unspeakable insanity. The film teaches that without the proper handling, folks involved with the mentally ill are just not safe. Be it a Mother who is approaching her Son threateningly with a butcher knife or running into traffic alone playing suicidal games. Safety and normality require intervention and receiving intervention requires knowledge of the truth. Rarely do those suffering with mental illness speak the truth of their circumstances…It is only family and loved ones around them who bear the burden of the truth.

No surprise ending here…The film does not oblige by offering resolution and closure. Mental illness cycles, but never resolves…The problems of those in the audience are dwarfed by the disclosures in this remarkable piece of work…Thank you Darious for having the courage to share this heartbreaking story

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.