Pod

Although the acting and character development in this film are very good, I was left at the end with too many unanswered questions and unexplained plot holes. It's always difficult to realistically display mental health disorders in a sympathetic and factual way and this title managed to cover such an emotive subject in a sensitive way, which was quite impressive. However, the storyline isn't a strong one and does little to explain who the characters really are, let alone how or why they make the choices they do. People are introduced and never explained, leaving you feeling that you have no idea where people have appeared from or what their motives are. I understand that sometimes as a viewer you have to 'Put the pieces of the puzzle together yourself' but it constantly seemed as if a lot of the pieces were missing and there was no way to see the whole picture. Overall, this movie was rather disappointing and missed the opportunity to create a great atmosphere as well as subjecting us to a rather strange and badly thought out narrative.

There is like two movies in one. The first, lays out what Martin thought he saw. And Ed and Lyla responding to his cryptic phone call, as Ed is his brother and Lyla is Martin's sister. Martin is in the woods with his dog, hears his dog yelp, and finds the dog dead, and he starts shooting into the woods. He calls Ed, telling him not to come. Martin was in the military, has really bad experiences with the VA, feels he was experimented on, has a tracking device in his tooth, and he tells Ed he has something in the basement that will confirm his story. Ed seems to be a mental health doctor, and isn't interested in anything that contradicts his predetermined ideas, while Lyla feels Martin believes what he is saying. This is the first part, and when Ed goes into the basement (of course) this is the second movie. The music becomes loud, there are strobe effects and jerky camera moves, and thing get frantic. And it seems rushed. There is no pod in the basement, but there certainly is danger. For me, the movie doesn't seem either complete nor polished. Martin does a decent job of playing his role, while Ed seems too wooden. Lyla, shown to have an alcohol problem, contributes little.

I decided to put this on after watching Darling on Netflix and subsequently looking up more from Mickey Keating as I really enjoyed that offering. 5 minutes into this movie I was hooked, and stayed that way until the end. The only reason I wouldn't rate this film higher is because it isn't very ambitious, but what it aims for it does pretty well. This is a B movie, and I don't want to say any more than that because I don't want to spoil it. In fact I'm angry at Netflix because the images on the film's page contain spoilers, I recommend going into it knowing absolutely nothing. Lauren Ashley Carter is really good in the film, yes her character is extremely wildly emotional which some may find annoying, but I found her very entertaining. If you go into this expecting a decent B movie with a simple plot then you should be satisfied, there is certainly emphasis here on style and atmosphere, the story won't impress you as its one we've seen countless times before but it does what it sets out to do and delivers a little bit of suspense, mystery and horror on a low budget and at under 80 minutes it's brisk and easy to watch.

Family reunion can be awkward, but these siblings take it to the next level. Nearly the entire script consists of bantering and screaming. It's quite the shame since the premise shows a glimpse of isolation that could've been better utilized for sci-fi or horror, instead we are presented an exhausting spectacle of dysfunctional family more than the actual mystery.

This is a small cast, with only three leads. Marty is the secluded brother and his siblings are worried about him. This leads to a long verbal standoff, arguing whether Marty is delusional or not. There's a lot of yelling and cursing involved, and one can't help but wonder if they could resolve the issue with better communication skill and whether the excessive shouting is merely padding to prolong the already short runtime.

After a while the loud screaming becomes numbing, and the thriller aspect doesn't get going until much later. It displays the hint of eerie atmosphere, although it doesn't manifest seamlessly and as usual shaky cam is expected. If it had more refined screenplay that focused on the mystery rather than family squabble as though they were in a cheap reality show, it could've been decent.

Scarce on the thrill and heavy on the cursing, Pod is a much tiresome and less horrifying affair than it could've been.

I actually surprisingly liked this, thought they did a pretty good job. It felt like quite a good senior thesis, and I don't mean that in a shady way haha. I was entertained the whole time and I think it was a perfect length for what it was. The acting was a little all over the place, everyone had successful moments and not so much. Best was the crazy brother, he had some great delivery at times. The girl, while she had a successful cry, her hysterics felt over the top almost every time. But like I said they all had good moments. Maybe I'm stupid and missed it, but like... was there ever a pod? Anywhere? Maybe I'm missing something lol all in all I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend if you're into super indi stuff. Good job guys.