Social media movies are the evolved found footage, carrying all the baggage, yet arguably more immersive particularly in a COVID driven world. The pitch is simple: a group of friends host a Zoom seance, and offer an open invite to the meeting. This feels low budget, yet the script doesn’t require much, effectively wielding the novelty of the gimmick and timing with inspired direction and performances. The plot is terse, runtime minimal and dialogue curt, which all play to the movie’s benefit. The interactions feel legitimate, most characterization achieved through actors riffing naturalistically. It feels like all have a genuine chemistry with telling personal reactions and silences informing far better than exposition dump. Another boon to the setup is the well illustrated potential for deception, which allows a moment of curiosity about how much might be staged for the benefit of an audience. Once things get beyond setup, the pace is relentless building to excellent scare sequences with cleverly played plot payoff and earned jolts. Some baggage catches up in the third act, where the rationale for continuing the gimmick wear, but the runtime masks this problem. The end reveal is not particularly inspiring, and the movie is wise enough to allow our minds to do most of the work, to this degree the found footage perspective also serves as an unreliable narrator. The film plays with our expectations and limited perspective, placing us as silent participant to the events as they unfold. Despite few flaws, and certainly not re-inventing the wheel this is an exemplary illustration of the subgenre’s potential and the value of a streamlined script.
Host (2020)