They Reach

Temper your expectations and you can find this one quite enjoyable! The acting is good, the story is simple, solid, and fun, the look is great(camera work, color grade), and the music holds it all together quite well.

This definitely has a bit of a Stranger Things vibe but it certainly has it's own direction and feel, if not an entirely different sort of motivation. The story isn't entirely predictable, which is nice.

Overall, if you like the horror/mystery genre I think the odds are good you would enjoy this movie as well.

Awkward horror comedy looks good but is full of unsuccessful tone shifts. Balancing horror and comedy is possible but it didn't work here. In reviewing a bad film, I try to look for something positive to say. The highlight of They Reach is the delightful Eden Campbell as Cheddar, best friend of lead girl Jessica. Campbell easily steals the film. Her funny performance makes me want to see her star in a teen comedy as that type of character - a bold, boisterous, fast-talking, quick-witted, rambunctious girl eagerly embracing mischief and shenanigans. She reminds me a bit of Eden Sher, in being someone who isn't just giving a good comic performance, but who comes across as a funny person. Give her a film with a better script and more focus on her as a comedic lead, I think she'd be fantastic.

Weird that there are multiple reviews claiming that the negative reviews can't possibly be true because the movie isn't out until October, which is maybe true for the US release, I'm not sure, but...it released on VOD services like Amazon internationally months ago. You were in the movie but you don't know that? Ok, bud.

Notice they're fine with all the blatantly fake 10/10 reviews from the same month though...

This is a Hi-Octane Pictures movie though, so honestly all of this and the low quality of the film itself is to be expected...

There was some good production values. There is an actual film crew. There are crane shots. Drone shots. Steadicam, handheld, dolly and tracking shots. There is good lighting. This was not shot on cellphones. So kudos to a decent DP.

The set design is very good. Lots of dank spaces like basements and libraries. The effects, as sparse as they are, are not distractingly horrid. The costumes (other than the cop uniforms) are fairly accurate.

The acting is a mixed bag. Some players are better than others. And this isn't Shakespeare. But you can tell that they filled out the cast with crew, friends or amateurs.

The plot is a bit schlocky. At times it is lighthearted and whimsical. Then it ramps up the tension or gets zany. But the story is more about the kids fumbling around the town with a supernatural mystery to keep them busy.

Oh, and the soundtrack is pretty spectacular for a lower-budget film.

It's not great. But it gets points for effort.

I loved the idea and really wanted to like it but the acting was not good. Some really weird scenes made me wonder what were they thinking. It has good ideas and even some Stephen King vibes but I wouldn't recommend it.