When daylight comes, things are seen that would enhance the story, making one frightened of the things occurring at night. Unfortunately, proceeding events are only a shuffled nightmare of incoherence. The movie tries to sprinkle in various nuggets as to what is going on and pays off none of it and fails to make a solid decision on the kind of movie it is. The story goes in so many directions in the darkness that by the end, all impact, tension, and character development are destroyed, making for a meaningless, emotionless conclusion that is nothing short of frustrating.

Do The Characters Save The Films?

In the over an hour the movie spends getting to know the characters, viewers receive enough to care for them and their well-being. Robbie and Scott Zagorac (Robbie Banfitch and Scott Schamel) have a strong bond as brothers, and they have a strong bond with their mother, who they see in the first 20 minutes or so. Angela Bocuzzi (Angela Basolis) has a great singing voice and a promising music career ahead of her and feels her mother’s loving presence with her always, having passed away sometime prior. Michelle (Michelle August) is happily married and can’t wait to get home to her husband. There is plenty enough reason to love these characters. It’s just a shame that three of the four are abandoned unceremoniously in a sea of absurdity. The acting isn’t bad, though. The cast is decent, and they portray utter terror incredibly well. It’s a real shame they didn’t all get the chance to shine in the film’s most important sequence, not that it would have been seen anyway.

Is The Outwaters At Least Scary?

Maybe, just maybe, some viewers can get into the style of the film enough to follow it well. If they can, they may find the disorientating shaky camera work bearable to be able to understand what is happening. And if they are okay with seeing the most important sequences by only the smallest dot of light, they may be traumatized by the things they see. If not, even if the viewer is the most diehard found footage fan, they are going to have an incredibly hard time following this movie. There is no shortage of scary imagery and gore to be had. It’s just so lost in the literal shuffling of things and the lack of explanation that it loses all effect.

Final Scoring

For anyone going into The Outwaters, do so with an open mind. Do so with respect for what Robbie Banfitch attempts to do. Do so and watch as if watching a work of art be painted and try to leave it with respect for the effort of innovation that the cast and crew tried to put to screen. Understand that opinions on this film are polarizing and know that not everyone is going to enjoy it. This movie was an attempt at a concept that ultimately failed to achieve the effect that it was going for. But out of respect for what it is trying to achieve, perhaps one should see for themselves. If for no other reason than to be a part of the conversation, they should at least try.