Afflicted
by Derek Lee and Clif Prowse
It's almost impossible to talk about a found footage movie without having a debate about the validity of the found footage subgenre. Ever since the Blair Witch Project first broke through in 1999 and became an international sensation, found footage movies have flooded the market. Producers love this format as it allows them to keep costs down and has a dedicated audience. It's also a fairly simple and effective way of telling a story that feels authentic and realistic. Too often, however, this is used as a shortcut for writers who don't know how to write authentic characters. Afflicted likely falls somewhere in-between; the characters here are written fairly well, save for some of their dialogue, but the script only scrapes the surface and leaves too much of the work up to the actors, who, in this situation, are not experienced enough to pick up the slack.
Afflicted is the first feature film written and directed by childhood friends Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, who had previously collaborated on four short films, including a Bloodshots Canada 48 Hour Horror Filmmaking Challenge winner, No Backing Out (which took home "Critic's Pick," "Audience Favorite" and "Best Death"). Lee and Prowse's friendship works to their advantage here as they portray childhood friends in the film and are able to insert footage of their adolescent selves to give the film a further shot of authenticity.
As the film begins, we're introduced to best-friends-for-life Derek and Clif. Derek caught the travel bug from his parents early in life, and he and Clif have dreamt up a year-long adventure that will see them visit six continents and over 30 countries. And since this is the era of social networking, they'll be posting all of this on their blog to share with their friends back home. Just before we're to shove off, however, we're thrown a curve ball: Derek has been diagnosed with an AVM (arteriovenous malformation), meaning there's a defect in his brain that could lead to serious problems. Derek is undeterred, however, and Clif is ready to help his friend out. Derek's family, on the other hand, is less than supportive about the trip given Derek's condition. It's during this initial dramatic injection that we begin to see the film's first cracks, as Derek's exchanges with his brother seem forced and lifeless. Our duo shakes this off, however, and their adventure begins.
During our early introduction sequence, the editing is quick and lively, fitting of a reality adventure piece. The cuts are quick with playfully rendered text overlaid to introduce characters or locations, like if MTV aired The Amazing Race. Clif's (the character and the director) background as a filmmaker gives him the opportunity to put together a pretty good variety of cameras and mounting equipment, which gives us a little more flexibility and variety with the shots. Day 1 takes us to Barcelona, Spain, where Derek and Clif meet up with their friends in the band Unalaska (a fictional Modest Mouse-goes-electronic sounding band made up of Vancouver indie veterans Edo Van Breemen from Brasstronaut and Zach Gray from The Zolas), who are currently on tour. They spend the week hanging out soaking up the well-edited experiences before following Unalaska to Paris, where their tour will wrap-up. It's in Paris where a romantic encounter goes wrong and changes the tone of the film. Derek is not the same after his rendezvous, and while Clif initially attempts to keep up the adventure-reality format, it's discarded fairly quickly as Derek's condition takes a turn.
It's here that the film begins to lose its battle with logic. As Derek begins to go through changes, Clif can't decide if he should be concerned with Derek's condition or wowed by it. It's exactly in situations like this where the double-edged sword of the found footage format can be found. While giving the filmmaker a shortcut to "authenticity," it also magnifies the mistakes. Clif posts footage that could potentially land them in hot water online for no other reason than for it to lead to a further development with Derek. Derek's condition also varies widely as our story develops, and even once the reveal is made, the film has a hard time sticking to the rules it lays out.
That's not to say there isn't fun to be had with characters from the "real world" dealing with a potentially supernatural situation. The film takes a Chronicle-like turn when it's discovered Derek seems to have new powers. The duo set out to document some of these by having Derek perform tricks for the camera. Of course, when other complications are revealed, the pair come to a conclusion as to what may be ailing Derek. It's here that the film leaves too much on the table. Having chosen to utilize a familiar mythical being, and to have the characters have knowledge of them in their world to boot, they're given plenty of opportunity to explore and dissect this other-worldly situation and its lore. Apart from a few fun sequences (and a few that see Prowse stretch his acting ability about as far as it will go), the film is more concerned with pushing the plot forward than taking the time to enjoy (or explain) the ride.
The second half of the film is unfortunately a bit of a confused mess. It takes Derek from location to location without much explanation as to the mechanics of how he's able to cover as much ground as he does or how he's able to get internet access in nearly every location he finds himself in while seemingly never losing any equipment regardless of how many times he's forced into flight (or how, exactly, he comes to be found so often). Derek, much like the script, has no real plan and the fact he's able to execute some of his schemes to success is harder to believe than the film's supernatural elements. When the film brings back Derek's fling for a showdown, it does so not only without explaining earlier events, but actually confusing those events further. The encounter is painful to watch as both actors appear out of their depth and in no position to bail out the script. When it's over, it leaves us with our lead assuming a role familiar to many genre fans, particularly to viewers of Showtime within the past decade or so, and keeps the possibilities of a sequel open (as is the norm these days).
Afflicted is at times very entertaining, but ultimately ends up being a mixed bag for horror fans. It offers a different take on a genre staple and provides the viewer with some truly fantastic sequences that take the found footage genre to places it has never gone (Derek's run from the police, in particular, is wonderfully executed). Indeed, if it were being measured on potential and innovation, it would receive some very high marks. But execution can be tricky, particularly when dealing with the chosen style's limitations. The devil is in the details, and the movie feels too rushed to be concerned with those. Like most first features, Afflicted shows promise and Prowse and Lee have announced themselves as talents to watch. With some growth or guidance, perhaps from a genre veteran the way Eli Roth or Guillermo del Toro have helped emerging filmmakers as producers, they may be able to create something that fully capitalizes on its potential. They've most definitely done enough here to deserve that chance.
Oliver Smiff, HMS