Dir - Christian Nilsson
Overall: GOOD
No not THAT Dashcam which was released in 2021, the OTHER Dashcam. The full-length debut from writer/director Christian Nilsson which utilizes computer screen footage within an otherwise conventional framework, it makes excellent use out of a bare-bones premise and almost no production values. Eric Tabach portrays our lone protagonist; a young, professional video editor who is accidentally, (for all that we know), sent classified video, audio, and photographic footage of the recent controversial murder of a police officer and a politician, only to embark on his own investigation which is fueled by an ambitious need to break a story that could potentially kick-start a sought-after career as a news reporter. Because the needs of Tabach's character are not exclusively motivated by selfish initiative, his plight becomes both sympathetic and unsettling as his douchebag boss pressures him for the finished product, his ladyfriend nonchalantly fuels his intrigue while making sure that he crosses all of his Ts and dots all of his Is, and a mysterious no name caller contacts him to make certain that nothing too sensitive leaks out to the public. Tabach's faux-reporting into the mirror comes off as silly exposition so that the audience can catch up, but his investigative scrubbing through the evidence is both intense and satisfyingly creepy.
Dir - Rob Savage
Overall: WOOF
Overall: WOOF
No not THAT Dashcam which was released in 2021, the OTHER Dashcam. Unveiled a month after Christian Nilsson's conspiracy thriller with the same title, this one serves as director Rob Savage's follow-up to the similarly gimmicked screen life film Host from the previous year. A collaboration between Savage, Jed Shepard, Gemma Hurly, and indie singer Annie Hardy, the latter plays the worst protagonist in the history of entertainment; a relentlessly obnoxious YouTuber with the personality of a juvenile trainwreck who is hellbent on being as disrespectful as humanly possible to every person on earth at all times. Hardy's on-screen persona is more than enough to render the entire movie unwatchable, but Savage falls back on one aggressively insulting, chaotic set piece after the next which break multiple laws of physics while shamelessly abusing some of the laziest attributes of found footage. Once the action kicks the second act into gear, the movie plows along with only a few breathers in between, which is just enough to slam home the point that Hardy's character will refuse to take the proceedings seriously come hell or high water, while making sure to keep filming no matter how much catastrophic damage her equipment must have endured. The camerawork is so reckless that every diabolical moment is indecipherable, to the point where it is anyone's guess as to what sort of otherworldly evil was even attacking everyone the entire time. Throw in numerous free-style raps that will make anyone listening want to jump off a bridge and this becomes a relentless, excruciating seventy-six minutes of garbage.
Dir - Mickey Reece
Overall: MEH
The low-budget nunsploitation/possession movie Agnes is far off the beaten path for such things, given a comedic tone that clashes with heavy themes and predominantly sincere performances. The title character herself portrayed by Hayley McFarland is actually a misdirection, as the first half of the narrative follows her succumbing to demonic forces which is conventional on paper yet peppered with goofy dialog and humorous beats, plus flashy editing and camera zooms that deliberately cross into B-movie terrain. Then everything abruptly shifts to Molly Quinn's disenfranchised nun who has had enough of such diabolical tomfoolery, her uppity convent, a disgraced priest, and a TV personality exorcist. Few if any of these characters are seen again, (including Agnes herself), as the narrative jumps forward in enough time for Quinn to find meager employment at a grocery story and a laundry mat, at which point yet another character is introduced in Sean Gunn's comedian who inadvertently helps her to cope with the loss of her son from many years earlier. Oh, and Quinn might be possessed now too. The ending is touching yet abrupt and the film's unorthodox presentation may lead some viewer's to proclaim it as a disorganized mess, but that is also exactly what gives it a unique edge over the type of "power of Christ compels you" and/or "chastised religious women struggling with temptation" genre offerings that have long been done dozens of times before.
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