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True Nature Review

Very rarely am I ever really terrified by an indie movie, not because its indie per say but because they lack something that, even in Hollywood movies, a good horror movie has…  and that’s the sound work. True Nature gets it in all the right places. I was genuinely freaked out by it but that may be because I was watching it in total darkness. The story follows a wealthy suburban family and how they try to cope with each other after their daughter, who has disappeared for months, mysteriously turns up alive. However, she isn’t the person she once was. She begins having violet flashbacks to the night of her disappearance, she begins seeing and hearing these things that keep beckoning her, her sense of smell and taste are off and she’s trying to figure out what happened to her on the night of her disappearance. This isn’t a horror movie, it’s a supernatural thriller but there is an aspect of the movie that might frighten you.

True Nature’s production was something that I noticed right away and it stands out. It’s a very well made movie with great technical aspects. The camerawork was something that I caught on immediately; it may look generic on the outside but if you really pay attention to it, it puts you right in the movie in turn making the movie feel more tragic. There are (actually, I assume) some great special effects but what I have to admire is the practical lighting effects. The scenes with the ‘creatures’ are especially scary because you don’t know if there really is a creature or if it’s just shadows. In terms of lighting, seeing bright flashing lights not knowing where the source is has always frightening me. I guess it’s because I usually connect that with alien invasions, which I thought this movie was about.

But perhaps their biggest achievement, in terms of technical aspects, is the sound design. It was in this department that really made the movie scary, somber and foreboding. It’s hard to describe the sound because most of the sound effects are unnatural but I will say this: even during the most reflective points in the movie, the creepy atmospheric sounds will make you feel as though something is about to happen. Atmospheric tones mixed with a shrill soundtrack and frightening noises make for a movie that really does play with your head. I think the best way to get the effect would be to watch this, as I did, in total darkness… so that when you hear the sounds, you won’t know if it’s coming from the movie or your room. That’s the freaky thing about it, they are natural sounds but they sound unnatural.

All the performances were great, some shined more than others but every one did a great job. The actors/actresses really made me feel for their characters, which is something that not many supernatural movies can do. It showed a real family with real problems trying to help their daughter recuperate from her disappearance and you can see the personality change in everybody. There are some cheesy moments in there that kind of make the movie seem like a Lifetime original movie, but even if that’s how the movie feels… that’s one messed up Lifetime movie.

The only problem that I had, and this is after you find out what really happened to the daughter, was the lack of an explanation behind the ‘creatures’ or how the daughter returned. I don’t want it to be spoon fed but even if it was passed off as an assumption that would have been great. Otherwise, the movie was great and I highly recommend it. With it’s slow building, character driven plot and its supernatural overtones it felt like it could be an episode of The X-Files. I believe this a movie that could have been stretched to more than just an hour or so but rather two hours. It’s a story that felt really compelling to me and I can’t wait for their next film.

https://www.truenaturethefilm.com/

6 Comments

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  1. It is such a refreshing thing to see an intelligent horror movie that has good writing directing and acting now-a-days. Danny Boyle made the genius decision to shoot the movie in DV rather that 35mm wide-screen creating a more raw feel.

  2. Well I agree on one point you made….I DID enjoy this film. I had a difficult time reading the rest of your review, however, after you claimed this film was about “Alien abduction”. That is the absolute LAST thing this movie is about. They shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same review. It also is not even close to anything i’ve ever seen on Lifetime. I don’t understand your reference to “creatures”. If you’re talking about the PERSON she keeps seeing and talking to throughout the film it’s actually herself. The part of herself that wants revenge for what happened. It’s the part that’s trying to convince her of what really happened and WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. I agree with you as well though that the film could, and should, be at least 20 minutes longer in order to explain just a bit more of what’s going on at the end. I don’t have to have everything spoon fed to me but i think if they wanted that 4, rather than 3, stars for a review in this movie they should have tightened things up a bit more. I think directors are taking the “make up your own mind what this film is about” to a level of ridiculousness.

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