The main reason I heard about this movie is because Elizabeth Mitchell is in it. Though I knew she would only play a small supporting role, I gave it a try anyway, hoping the movie wouldn't suffer too much from typical budget-related indie-film problems. And at least to a certain extent, it did not.
The overall style and camera work is quite decent. Sure, with a smaller budget, there aren't any fancy locations or large crowd scenes or similar, and that's to be expected, but the team did the best with what they had. I definitely didn't expect the kind of action sequence at the river toward the end of the movie. And they also tried to add some visual variety using (I assume) a camera drone for some of the establishing shots.
Another thumbs up goes to the cast. I wasn't familiar with any of the kids before watching this movie but I think we'll see more of them in the future. They played well together and made the most of the lines they were given.
But this brings me to the main shortcoming of this movie: the script. Or, maybe it wasn't so much the script itself but things had to be cut or were edited poorly -- I can't tell. I just know that the story tried to do too much and ended up saying too little. Too many issues were crammed into one movie: drug trafficking, gun violence, corrupt cops, bullying, abusive parents, the stereotypical missing black father (let's retire this cliché for a while, shall we?), the usual high-school drama, and above all, a murder mystery.
It's just too much, and none of these issues get enough room to breathe and to develop their full potential. It also affects the characters, who often remain underdeveloped and leave the audience waiting for something to really connect with. And in the end, everything gets wrapped up too neatly, and it feels like the creators tried to tick off as many "drama, baby!" boxes as possible without really dealing with all the repercussions.
At the end of the day, it's a decent indie movie. Not one of the best, but certainly not one of the worst I've seen either. If you have an afternoon or evening to spare, give it a try. Indie movies can always use our support, and this cast deserves some more attention. Just keep your expectations low with regard to the story / twists.
Looking forward to the next projects of everybody involved in "What We Found".
