Channeling the well established sub-genre of “found footage”, young director Piet Patrick give us a taste of horror with “The Spirit”, a story of possession and attempted exorcism.
Noel, Indri and Irfan have just finished shooting on location and are loading the car with the props and equipment to return. Noel is filming all this, for a sort of “behind the scene” content he will upload on his channel. Once in the car and on the way back, Indri falls in a deep and unnatural sleep while her friends chat away about a mysterious picture belonging to the location's previous owner, that they had been asked not to move. But something strange is going on with Indri…
The film is atmospheric and displays a great possession performance, however it feels more like a teaser for something to come than a stand-alone work. It is an excellent style exercise and it could develop into a more satisfying piece if fleshed out with a story. The plot of the mysterious picture is left in the air and isn't strong enough (or mysterious enough) to create a narrative.
Hard to talk about cinematography in a “found footage” film as the quality is purposely kept in hand-held, home-video, casual form, here with some additional glitches to jazz it up. Wisely, the script wants the camera – for part of the film – set on the dashboard and therefore steady, which helps not to get too dizzy and focuses perfectly on the demoniac awaken. The whole short film is well executed and is a good example of the potential of the crew behind it and of a possible development.
As a bonus, don't miss the post-credits scene revealing an early “Easter Egg”.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aWUU10q1ZRuxHIzfJHpv3DQn9NDom3F-/view?usp=drivesdk
