The Outwaters Review

Top 10 Film of 2023

The Outwaters review.

The Outwaters finds a new way to utilize the found footage aesthetic. Then it pushes further and harder than any movie considered of its type. The Blair Witch Project walked so that The Outwaters could run.

The Outwaters opens in theaters on February 9.

New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.

The Outwaters

Directed by Robbie Banfitch

Written by Robbie Banfitch

Starring Robbie Banfitch, Angela Basolis, Scott Schamell, Michelle May and Leslie Ann Banfitch

The Outwaters Review

Found footage movies often seem to exist more for the sake of simplicity and cost effectiveness than anything else.  That’s why when a movie like The Outwaters comes along…you have to take notice.  It pushes the concept to its limits with artistic purpose.  It pushes it beyond with a relentless assault on the senses.

Four people head out to the Mojave Desert to shoot a music video.  They are awakened one night by strange sights and sounds.  Everything we see comes from memory cards recovered by the police. 

We always put a plot synopsis in these reviews but The Outwaters truly doesn’t need one.  The truth is that I couldn’t explain to you what happens after a certain point in the movie if I wanted to.  It’s an experience.  An incredibly well crafted experience in unexplainable horror.  The confusion and questions are a feature…not a bug.  The atmosphere and The Outwaters ability to fully absorb you in it are what make it great.

The Outwaters starts with a long, patient introduction to the characters.  It’s a bold move that favors the artistic side over the immediate gratification that most modern horror films choose.  It serves to not only give viewers more reason to connect to the people we are going to follow into hell…but also as a commitment to presenting the footage as being as realistic as possible.  A movie cuts this opening act down.  An experience shows you everything.

Now…we don’t talk spoilers in new movie reviews…so don’t worry.  The Outwaters couldn’t be spoiled anyway.  When things start to go wild…it isn’t a specific event or twist that makes it work to such an impressive degree.  It is, again, a commitment to art and experience.  The Outwaters takes us back to the basics of film and finds success in amplifying film’s two most important aspects.  Images and sound. 

The sound design in The Outwaters is incredible.  I have no doubt that it is the finest of any entry in the found footage sub-genre.  It creates a full emersion in the world even when you can’t tell what in that world you are looking at.  Especially when you can’t tell.  There are many memorable images in the second half of the film…but the sounds are what will leave you shaken.

Those images come in several different forms.  If you aren’t a fan of flashlights flying around darkness trying to find an image…The Outwaters has large sections that will not be for you.  If you are easily swept up in anticipation and fear that the light will land on something terrifying…you’re going to love it here.  Searching for meaning in the dark is the hallmark of the second act of The Outwaters.  It’s effective in a similar way to the first act.  Experience and art. 

Then there is the third act.  This is where the complete assault on the senses takes over.  Completely insane, balls to the wall, no holds barred…whatever description you can come up with…The Outwaters finds it.  Gripping, engrossing, relentless…the climax of The Outwaters redefines the boundaries of what found footage can achieve. 

This review has tried to keep discussion about The Outwaters as general as possible.  Discovering the fates of the characters, what they see…what we see…it’s all a part of the experience.  You might take away something different from yours than I did.  Found footage is a divisive format to begin with.  What I walked away from The Outwaters feeling, above all else, is that I had just experienced something unique and important.  A sub-genre pushed beyond its perceived limitations.  A movie that creates an unforgettable experience.  The characters in The Outwaters set out to create art in the desert.  They succeed.

Scare Value

Building to an all-out assault on the senses, The Outwaters delivers one of the finest third acts in modern horror. Sound design, practical effects and performance combine into a nightmare. One of the obvious ideas of the found footage concept is to give you the perspective of the person filming. The Outwaters gives us characters who feel confused, terrified, lost and confronted by something they don’t understand. A movie has rarely been so successful putting you in their shoes.

4.5/5

The Outwaters Trailer

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