Director: Matthew J. Wilkinson
Year: 2021
Country: Australia
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Desperate for new content, online content creators tired of doing the same thing head out into the Australian wilderness to film themselves in the middle of a community looking to carry out a Christmas tradition where they’re set to be sacrificed and must try to get away alive.
Review:
Overall, this was a solid enough indie genre effort. Among the better factors with this one is the generally exciting main setup that manages to incorporate some intriguing factors into something not usually associated with the holiday. The first half here, taking a somewhat obvious route in getting the main couple discovered through their usual online content and the various trials they go through to film everything they upload and deciding on going for a more unconventional route involving them heading out to the countryside to film something different for the holiday, serves to get some interesting material up involving how they operate and what the genre vibe of their show is about. The way they stumble upon the community of transgressors out in the middle of nowhere who undergo a special sacrificial ritual on Christmas Day to ensure a deadly figure doesn’t go on a rampage is a solid way to expand that as this comes along.
The whole approach of what’s going on here, which is slowly discovered the longer they stay out in the outback, manages to be immensely intriguing as it slowly develops into a fun if generally formulaic take on the idea of a community of outsiders kidnapping a group of people and forcing them to partake in something bizarre for their own bizarre beliefs to come true. This makes for some fun here once they finally get to the strangers’ compound and are forced to undergo the kind of strange ritualistic practices that often involve the community cryptically converse with them about what’s going on leading to some genuinely fun chases and escapes trying to keep everything in check for their celebrations, and it’s fun enough but also highlights the kind of overly familiar type of content that this runs on quite heavily. Combined with its cheesy approach and low-budget limitations that pop up frequently enough, these are enough to bring this one down.
Overview: **/5/5
A fun enough if somewhat underwhelming indie effort, there’s enough here to be somewhat worthwhile while being let down by some big flaws that are quite detrimental and hold it back. Those with an appreciation for this style or approach will have a lot to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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