As I sat in the lounge, sipping on a complimentary beer or two and admiring my media pass, a small part of me questioned what I had got myself into. The Sci-Fi London Film Festival is celebrating it’s 17th year and judging from the handy brochure I was handed in the lobby, it shows no signs of slowing down with a vast number of films and shorts on offer, as well as numerous director and cast Q&As. The importance of film festivals such as this, highlighting strong independent cinema from across the world, wasn’t lost on me, especially in a time in which cinema seems riddled with sequels, prequels, remakes and movies starring The Rock. But I wasn’t here on a jolly, as much as it felt like it, I had a job to do. It isn’t every day that you get to attend a European Premiere of a film and then have an open discourse with both the actors and the directors, so I fought all my instincts to drink the bar dry, took out my little notebook and went to work. The Kaos Brief. Let’s do this.
Release: 2016
Directed by: JP Mandarino
Written by: JP Mandarino
Starring: Akanimo Eyo, Charlie Morgan Patton, Drew Lipson, Marco DelVecchio
With their parents out of town, vlogger Skylar (Drew Lipson) and his twin sister Dakota (Charlie Morgan Patton) grab their boyfriends, Corey (Marco DelVecchio) and Tren (Akanimo Eyo) for a night of camping in the mountains. Loaded up with technology, they hit the road, but this take on the found footage film takes you to places never expected. It all begins when an excited Skylar spots strange lights in the sky and the gang wake to find weird rock formations outside of their tent where only hours earlier they were toasting marshmallows. “You’re vlog is about to get a whole lot more interesting” claims Dakota, and she wasn’t wrong.
Confused, slightly freaked and excited at the potential boost in subscriber numbers, Skylar uploads his footage online upon their return in an attempt to decipher what they have all seen. But unsurprisingly, the problems don’t end there. Two men in black visit their home, follow their every move and everyone experiences incomprehensible physical phenomenons. When Skylar receives an anonymous and mysterious message online warning him that his footage has left them all in danger, who can they turn to? Who is after them? And how do you escape those who seemingly know your every move?
Found footage films have the tendency to make me feel nauseous and look for the exit at the earliest possible convenience, but The Kaos Brief quickly put my concerns to rest. With a plethora of modern technology, ranging from iPhones to drones, at their disposal and shot in first person, the film gave a fresh and watchable take on a genre that seems riddled with shaky cams and horrible cut scenes. It’s not only the technology that makes the film seem fresh and relevant however, as we open with a masked hacktivist, in an obvious nod to Anonymous, reaching out to any and all for more information on this top secret footage found deep within the classified Edward Snowden files. This angle isn’t overplayed, nor is the debate on the importance of such leaks hammered home, rather it’s left to linger in the mind of the viewer, and arguably this less is more method is one that many in the mainstream news media should consider.
However, it is the actors and the chemistry they have on screen that really sells this film and takes it from an interesting idea to an edge of your seat gripping flick. Drew Lipson, who plays our lead and the star of Skylar TV, is fantastic and painfully believable as the self-obssessed vlogger who enjoys nothing more than sharing his every move, thought and decision with his mighty 1,000 subscribers. Marco DelVecchio is the perfect foil to his antics, begrudgingly accepting life with a camera thrown into his face night and day. In addition, Akanimo Eyo brings a much needed sense of humour, as well as an impressive intensity to his role as the frustrated “I didn’t sign up for this” boyfriend of Dakota. But it is arguably Charlie Morgan Patton, who plays the aforementioned Dakota, who pulls off the most memorable scene of the movie with a frightening level of realism than kept me awake long into the night! It is to the credit of these actors, that they come across as sympathetic, every day, run of the mill teenagers, rather than the infuriatingly obnoxious and idiotic characters than have ruined many a horror before. You find yourself actively willing them on to find out what is happening to them, and to escape the horrors that they find themselves in rather than counting down the seconds until they are slashed and culled by your token bad guys.
My only gripe with the film is that I find it almost impossible to believe that a guy as attractive, and with as much tech kit at his disposal, would only have 1,000 subscribers! But jokes aside, with the film edited to a tight 75 minutes, JP Mandarino has managed to create a film that leaves you desperately wanting more, and with a potential two follow up sequels in the pipeline, it may not be long until we are seeing more of Skylar TV.
To keep up to date with all the happenings with The Kaos Brief and its stars, follow them on Twitter @TheKaosBrief or visit their website. A little birdie also told me that they are heading to the Cannes Film Festival in the upcoming weeks so if you can afford to get out there, don a fancy suit and take advantage of the free bar then I advise you drop everything and do so!
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