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Independent Spotlight: The Confession
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Official Synopsis:
Five people, invited to a party with no host, at a home with no residents, discover that they are connected by the murder of their mutual friend, Julie Vander. When their mysterious host arrives, he is revealed to be Julie's ex-boyfriend -- the man recently acquitted of the crime. And he comes armed with a revelation: One of them is the real killer. What begins as an orderly search for truth disintegrates into a chaotic battle for survival as, one by one, lies are stripped away, alliances are formed and broken, and secrets are exposed, until they are left tearing at each other like cornered animals. They soon discover that the road to truth can be a twisting and deadly one. Shot with eleven simultaneously running cameras, "The Confession" is the first movie to provide the option to watch from any angle, at any time. A different movie with every viewing, it is the first truly interactive movie viewing experience.
Our Take:
The Confession is an interesting independent film that relies on a central gimmick (the story is told entirely via "hidden camera" footage, with a multi-angle feature that allows users to control what angle they watch) that at first screams style-over-substance. What's odd to me is that usually a gimmick like that is an indicator that the film itself isn't very good. But that's not the case with The Confession.
A good old-fashioned mystery, The Confession sees six people trying to figure out which one of them committed murder. It's fairly riveting stuff, and by the end, I was engaged enough to wish it had actually been filmed in a more traditional manner. I understand that the "hidden camera" angle probably worked for an independent film from a budgetary standpoint, and the ability to watch the film from whatever angle you want (there is a master Director's Cut that is fully edited) is a great gimmick that will probably draw attention to the DVD. But ultimately, the film is interesting and fairly well-acted, so it stands on its own merits.
The Confession on DVD includes a few cool extra features:
* Multi Angle Feature - You can watch the film as edited by the directors, or you can switch between numerous angles and watch it however you want.
* The Verdict News Clip - A "news report" that sets up the film.
* Pre-Confession - One of the characters provides a videotaped statement.
The Confession is a solidly entertaining independent film (with a neat gimmick), but most importantly, it shows a lot of promise from the filmmakers. Here's hoping their next film is allowed to just be a terrific movie in its own right.
Overall Picture:
Movie: B+
DVD: Additional scenes, multi-angle feature, trailers, weblinks.
- Mike Spring
Editor
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