When All Else Fails, Make a Movie

Read Time:2 Minute, 16 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
He’s Watching
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Genre: Horror
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 35m
Director(s): Jacob Estes
Writer(s): Jacob Estes
Cast: Iris Serena Estes, Lucas Steel Estes, Gretchen Lieberum
Where To Watch: available VOD nationwide Thursday, July 21

Unfortunately, this was a miss for me, but that isn’t to say others won’t enjoy it. My biggest issue was the style; it felt like a found footage film, reminiscent of 2011s AMITYVILLE HAUNTING. I will remind everyone that just because I didn’t enjoy a film doesn’t mean you won’t. Many reviewers believe that their word is the end all, be all and that the only view of a film is theirs. I know how untrue that mentality is; there are classic films that are considered classics worldwide that I didn’t necessarily enjoy. I’m not a huge fan of most westerns; does that mean they’re bad? Most definitely not!

This was still an impressive feat, no matter how you look at it; filmed in the height of the COVID pandemic (as well as many films being released), the film still comes out with a fun premise. Not to mention that Jacob Estes (writer/director) brought in his children to make the movie a family project. This was initially conceived as a way for the family to overcome the boredom ravishing the world. The story is simple enough; the siblings' Iris and Lucas (playing fictionalized versions of themselves) are left to their own devices as they play pranks on each other while their parents recover from an illness. One thing leads to another, and everything breaks loose when they realize there’s more to their pranks than meets the eye.

Traditionally I won’t rate independent features on a star scale as I feel they deserve their craft to be recognized over someone's film rating. I will always support the art of filmmaking on any scale. I’ll review a high school film project up to the latest blockbuster; having created some short films in the past, I know the passion and love it takes to make a movie. Sometimes you can tell something is just phoned in for a quick cash grab, but this isn’t the case here.

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