Don't Look Back - October FrightFest

It’s worth pondering that almost every individual now has the means with which to record theirs and others lives. Almost nothing can escape documentation be it words, pictures or actions. This can be a fantastic asset. As a witness in Don’t Look Back under questioning says, he has supplied evidence with his mobile. Which is true but while he was recording the assault, he and others stood back and did nothing to help. Should they have? It’s more a complicated question than it appears in Final Destination creator Jeffrey Reddick’s debut as a director/writer.

The film opens with a montage of mobile and CCTV recorded violence and a vicious attack on Caitlin Kramer (Kourtney Bell) and her father, leaving him dead, and her severely traumatised. Nine months later she’s having therapy but getting her life together with boyfriend Josh (Skyler Hart).

Then one day while out for a run in the park, a man is attacked and killed. She does nothing and neither do a number of others, but it was caught on mobile. The footage of the attack gets into the public arena, the witnesses are condemned by media and public alike screaming moral outrage. This goes into overdrive when the dead man’s brother Lucas (Will Stout) makes their names public, ensuring their lives become intolerable.

It’s while this is swirling around that less explainable things start to happen: Crows appear, voices are heard, lights mysteriously go out and the witnesses start dying. And as Caitlin seems to be at the centre of it, Detective Boyd (Jeremy Holt) is getting suspicious. Add to this pressure from Lucas, useless support from Josh, it’s hardly surprising that Caitlin is struggling mentally even as things are starting to become clearer.

First off if you are expecting the intricate Heath Robinson chain of events killings which were a feature of the Final Destination series then you are going to be disappointed with the rather conventional way that people are dispatched here; Jeffrey Reddick is more concerned with atmosphere, keeping the pace steady, tight and tense. But it does retain that element of the uncanny; an unrelenting and unstoppable force, interspersed with biblical references and the aforementioned portents.

This supernatural aspect knits nicely with the more tangible issues of social media exploitation, shaming and the me, me, me culture of some aspects of cyberspace. The reaction to the witnesses’ inaction whipped up by the rhetoric and raw footage is chilling. Based on virtually nothing strangers become judge, jury and executioner.

The cast are solid with Kourtney Bell very good as the troubled Caitlin, just about keeping herself together dealing with her guilt. Of the others are less well defined though you got the feeling that Josh was a loser as soon as he was introduced and the only other character of substance Lucas is a little hollow.

Don't Look Back had its European Premieres at FrightFest on 23 October. It is currently available on a number of digital platforms.