Maurizio This movie came as a suggestion on this very website while I was reading the page of another movie (you know, the usual "users who watched this movie also liked..."), and I'm really glad I yielded to the curiosity of reading what it was all about. I liked some "found footage" films in the past, but I'm not crazy about the genre, still I was triggered by the scarce plot given here, and I just decided to watch it. Now I'm just through it, and I'm still in shock. The first scene is a police label marking the footage we are about to see as found on a murder scene, so there is little to spoil about the plot. The impending doom of those we are about to meet is made clear from the beginning, only leaving in doubt about who is/are the victim/s and who is/are the murderer/s. Then it all begins...This film could be split in three parts, all of which last about half an hour. It takes some patience to get through the first one, as most of what we see is some obnoxious family games and shallow chit-chat, which serves the purpose of building the context and getting to know the characters. So, we soon come to learn that we're dealing with a somewhat clumsy, but warm and caring father, seemingly a good house man all in all, but with the hint of a shadow looming over him (which will be developed later in the film), a tender, over-sensitive daughter kind of confused with herself, a mother who appears to be steadfast in her familiar role, but a little too stiff and bitchy, and an obnoxious son who is in his teens, but mostly behaves like a second grader or so to the rest of his family and in his leisure time. That is, a believable portrait of every day reality in your neighborhood: a perfect surface with its natural, human flaws. Oh, woe is me, will it not last...In the second part, the secret shadow looming over the father begins to disclose, and we start witnessing his descent into weirdness first, and madness consequently. The dis-functionalities of the family, up to that moment quite dull and ordinary, quickly swirl down into a pit of ever growing frenzy, leading to the final showdown, which unravels in the third part.I won't spoil anything about what goes on, but I'll just let you all know that this is not a horror movie, this is a dramatically realistic depiction of a well too known REAL horror. The performances of the four main actors are stunning, the bond that grows between you and the characters is solid, real, you can feel it, touch it. As the story started developing, I found myself despising the boy, pitying the father, caring for the daughter, getting angry at the mother, and then having all these feelings just messed up and turned inside out as the events unraveled. But nonetheless, there was not a single moment when I was not feeling something for all of them. And I think this is one of the greatest achievements a movie can reach.So, be prepared: you will be introduced to four people that you will get emotionally in touch with, only to be overwhelmed by the shocking doom that they will face. On a final note: I stood astonished in front of my TV while the whole of the end credits silently rolled out and left an empty, black screen which lasted almost one minute, with no sound whatsoever. I just couldn't move away or stop the play. This is the level of the emotional grip this film has cast onto me. You have been warned.

stevejohnson-54483 I am a fan of found footage movies but this isn't one of them. I found it to be tedious, so much so that I found the shaky camera thing that is the deal with this movies to be as incredibly irritating as the actors themselves, specifically the father.While I realize that this genre involves the use of hand held cameras in a pseudo documentary style, there is often little rational as to why the actors would feel the need to document what they do. Specifically in this case. Why would the daughter and then the father feel the need to document the disintegration of their lives? Just not at all plausible to me.I guess some like it but again it was a tedious bore for me and like my title says, I saw the end coming much too soon to make the film even remotely interesting.

dawulf I watched this and was engrossed until the last ten minutes. Then I was overwhelmed and just sad because this is the same sad story that seems to be in the news daily.The movie was very well written and does accurate display the destruction of one man and his family. It is serious and to the point and brutally honest. It's "found footage" and it could be your neighbor or relative,which adds to the horror of it.While I do recommend this be forewarned especially if you have ever experienced a tragedy like this. I find it incredibly sad, I can't say that enough, that things like this movie occur every day in real life. I find it more horrific than movies like Saw or Hostel.

SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Exhibit A is another found footage film, but this time it decides to portray a terrifying drama rather than a horror. Judith has just received a video camera from her father, who accidentally broke her camera. She becomes a voyeur of everyday life involving her painfully lovey dovey family. With a promotion on the cards for her father, the family seem to be on the up and up. As the film progresses we see sudden changes in the father who seems to be hiding something from his wife and kids. Exhibit A is a fantastic film, and really thrusts you into the life of this family. As the tension mounts a number of key scenes give off all the emotional strain, terror, and awkwardness you would expect as an observer. In one moment we see the father and two children playfully try and capture a goof for You've Been Framed, as the son continuously fails to make the stunt looks realistic, the fun playful game soon infuriates the dad and when his anger explodes it's a truly horrifying moment. The film is a success because it seems so real. You hear about similar stories unfortunately often in the press. The final scene just shows how dedicated these actors are. Maintaining such a draining performance for such an extended take is to be highly commended. Not an enjoyable nor easy watch, but a very involving and affecting one.