I kind of expected something more from producer Jason Blum
but the film Mockingbird (2014) does
follow into the footprints of many of his other films like Sinister (2012), Insidious
(2010), and The Gallows (2015), to
name a few. Mockingbird follows a couple, a woman, and a geek shut-in who have
been forced into playing a sick game by an unseen person. They are given cameras that do not turn off
and forced to film everything that happens to them or they will die. Now this might sound like an interesting idea
but the execution has a lot to be desired.
The geek shut in is the only person who actually enjoys what
he is told to do by the unknown “puppet master” because to him it is a game and
that he has a handful of tasks that he must do over the course of the night in
order to win, namely dressing up as a clown.
Because it’s a Blum production, the found footage aspect of the film
works better than in most. The story is
by Bryan Bertino and It’s also competently
directed with some creative production touches but is otherwise an
uninteresting film.
Sam Esmail (with the screenplay written by Bertino alone
who also directs).
I actually wanted to like the film as it had an interesting
concept of people being forced to do things that that otherwise wouldn’t do but
none of the characters are interesting so I kind of tuned out after a
while. Easily one of Blum’s lesser films
but he’s produced enough found footage films that this one can easily be
overlooked.
