In the dry, desolate desert four friends find themselves among some supernatural phenomenon that they can’t explain. What promised to be a fun trip where the four would record music videos and decompress has quickly turned into something harrowing, challenging, and deadly. The Outwaters is a found-footage film that depicts the final days of these four friends. Those who have found the footage still aren’t entirely sure what happened, but it depicts their struggles nonetheless.
Films like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield took the world by storm when they were released, creating a bunch of hoopla that surrounded them for a significant amount of time. These found-footage films changed the horror genre forever, and provided filmmakers with a new and interesting way of telling stories. If we’re being honest, rarely will other films live up to the standards of those aforementioned successes–but films like The Outwaters exist as a result of those successes. What those films do so well is immediately pull viewers into the story, quickly develop relevant and likable characters, and avoid taking too long to really dive into the bulk of the film. That’s what The Outwaters struggles with. For more than an hour viewers are exposed to seemingly pointless content, things that in the grand scheme of the film serve no purpose. Having to wait so long for anything to happen is trying–and I was close to giving up.
Around the hour-and-five-minute mark The Outwaters shifts, however. The tone of the film changes drastically, the characters become a little more interesting, and the story finally begins to develop. In all honesty, it’s too late at this point–however, I appreciate what Writer-Director Robbie Banfitch is able to accomplish so late in the film. The last forty-five minutes of the film are interesting, enjoyable really, and all of the action that had been missing for the first hour materializes toward the end of The Outwaters.
What is achieved better than anything else throughout the course of The Outwaters is the use of sound. The use of sound is incredible, capturing every single bit of the film whether viewers are able to see it or not. From the opening moments of the film, viewers are captivated by sounds that surround the characters and work to carry the film forward. Banfitch is everything to The Outwaters–the writer, director, lead, editor, cinematographer, and more. But the most important thing (and the most successful) is his role as the sound designer. He brings this film to life with his understanding of sound–and without his knowledge in that department, I’m not sure that The Outwaters appeals to viewers.
Banfitch is incredible. The Outwaters lives and dies by Banfitch–from the writing to the editing, every single step of the way, he’s in charge of this film. I’m not in love with this film, but I think it’s only fair to cut Banfitch a bit of slack considering all that he had on his plate. There are some things that are done wonderfully well, and some that fall by the wayside. The Outwaters has the potential to appeal to viewers in a series of different ways–but it’s the sound (and the quality of sound) that has the greatest potential.
Written & Directed by Robbie Banfitch.
Starring Robbie Banfitch, Scott Schamell, Michelle May, Leslie Ann Banfitch, Angela Basolis, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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