Back when I watched V/H/S, the segment that I liked the most was a Skype-based sequence. The perspective didn’t feel forced. Maybe it’s just because we tend to have a computer in whatever room we’re in.
This movie takes that element and extends it much further. This is one of the only types of found-footage movies that I think works well in this style. In fact, the found-footage element is important to the plot.
What makes this movie work so well is that it plays with your feelings about the found-footage style. The story starts off normally. At a certain point, we reach a few sequences that the audience starts to feel like they’re stretching the believability of the situation.
The other thing that raises this movie above similar brethren is by structure. The natural ending happens about 15-20 minutes from the end. At that point, I wasn’t quite sure where else they could go with the story. Then it gets blown wide open, and we start to understand why we got footage from certain points of view.
I can’t think of many movies that work this way - where the audience feels like there’s a flaw in the storytelling, and the ending clears that up.
There are still a few things that bug me, but they’re very small. I don’t like the shorthand that filmmakers use to indicate a virus-infected computer. Especially since in this case, it’s a hijacking sort of program, requiring that the computer be stable. I don’t know how to communicate that idea without these kinds of shorthands.
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