VOD of the Dead - FOLLOWERS (2021)
Found footage is arguably the most accessible genre for blossoming filmmakers. The aesthetic is inviting to those who are working with little to no budget, and they often have small casts contained in relatively enclosed areas. In theory, anyone could make a found footage movie with a smartphone, but that doesn’t guarantee quality. The art of effective found footage is all about atmosphere and characters. Since the viewer relies on the first-person perspective to drive the action, you have to like the person or persons involved, or at the very least dislike them enough to want to wait to watch them suffer. The atmosphere is equally as important as immersion is essential to making found footage work, and without setting the right mood and knowing how to pace the tension you run the risk of losing your audience before you can deliver the goods. In FOLLOWERS, the late writer and director MARCUS HABEN takes on influencer culture, Gen Z, and the supernatural all through found footage. Is FOLLOWERS worth smashing the “like and subscribe” button, or should you skip and unfollow?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Jonty, a failing influencer with an ambition to reach over a million followers, will stop at nothing to become famous. A new start at university brings with it hopes of a resurgence in his popularity when a demonic presence appears in his student house. Jonty decides to stream his and his housemates’ experiences with this supernatural entity to gain the fame and fortune he’s been craving. But at what cost?
HOW IS IT?
As a reviewer, it is my goal to be as objective as possible, but sometimes that’s not easy. Truth be told, it was really hard to be for FOLLOWERS on account of the sad story of writer/director MARCUS HABEN’s passing due to cancer. This was Haben’s first and only feature-length film, and while it doesn’t succeed in some ways, the sentimental part of me wants as many people as possible to see this if only to honor the early passing of a filmmaker who showed a lot of promise. This is not to say FOLLOWERS is a bad movie and you should watch it out of pity, rather, it’s a solid film that serves as a reminder that filmmaking is a labor of love and deserve to be appreciated even if the filmmaker isn’t with us anymore.
FOLLOWERS has a relatively familiar setup for anyone whose seen a supernatural-found footage film. A reality star who has fallen from grace tries to reinvent himself as a social media influence as he enters college, only to find that the apartment they are in may or may not be haunted. From there you get a lot of run-of-the-mill mystery and questioning if what everyone is seeing is actually happening, or if is it a long con to get back into the media limelight. While this setup isn’t entirely novel, the characters involved are far more engaging than the setup. From the jump, there is a clear delineation between Jonty, the influencer, and his housemates Zauna and Pete, and Amber. Amber is dating either Jonty or Pete, but I’m not entirely sure which, to be honest. The way these characters interact is what drives a lot of the action for most of the film, so being easy characters to follow helps with some of the ho-hum meanderings that are found in the first half of the film. The back half, however, turns things up a few notches mostly for the better. There is one scene in particular at a Halloween party that is heaps of fun and certainly defies expectations with respect to how supernatural-found footage films tend to operate. As things being to barrel toward the end, there are some really fun and effective set pieces that display some of the more gruesome moments in the film.
However, the back half of the film is also where the plot starts to fall apart. In particular, the ending. FOLLOWERS is a classic case of “doing too much” syndrome in that the last 15 minutes cram so much exposition that it detracts from the natural building tension. To boot, the reveals are slightly unconvincing and don’t make a whole lot of sense the more you think about them. You can see what Haben was going for, and while there is a unique twist on motivations it is ultimately shallow and underdeveloped since it feels so rushed. Part of me wondered why there wasn’t more exploratory investigation happening earlier in the film, and FOLLOWERS makes a clear choice to focus on Jonty’s personal struggles more so than the supernatural occurrences. Furthermore, there are instances where the film seems to forget its found footage in spite of its claim that “to create an authentic found footage feel over 70% of Followers was filmed by the actors themselves”. Candidly I couldn’t really tell and would have never known unless I hadn’t read it in the press materials. Finally, there is a very hollow attempt at social critique here on the state of influencers that I would normally get behind, but it doesn’t really stick that landing given how superficial that commentary comes across. While this all sounds like this film isn’t worth your time I would implore you to give it a shot anyway. Even if some things don’t work or even make sense, there is a clear passion on display from a filmmaker who was taken too early. I’m convinced that his talents would have improved, and so while it isn’t the best film of the year it is certainly worth your time to see what could have been.
LAST RITES
FOLLOWERS is a fun, but flawed film that doesn’t land all the punches it throws because it’s simply doing too much. In spite of that, it is more entertaining than it seems and is the last testament of a filmmaker taken from us far too soon.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
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Where can you watch it?
FOLLOWERS premieres on digital platforms in North America on March 24, 2023 from Terror Films!
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