By George & Josh Bate
Faux true crime has re-emerged as a compelling subgenre of horror in recent years. After the Australian mockumentary Lake Mungo terrified audiences upon its release in 2008, the likes of Strange Harvest and Hunting Matthew Nichols have continued to extract effective thrills from fusing the conventions of true crime documentaries with horror tropes. Muffled, a new docu-horror debuting at this year’s Dances with Films, largely continues this trend of strong faux true crime-horror blends with an intriguing mystery and unsettling imagery.
From writer/director Stephen McNamee, Muffled follows true crime enthusiasts Nora (Katya Martín) and Harper (Catharine Daddario) as they return to their hometown to investigate the disappearance of their childhood friend Greta. As they interview old friends in an effort to discover what really happened to Greta years ago, the women uncover evidence that suggests Greta’s disappearance had disturbing ties to sinister creepypastas and occult rituals. From there, the lines between sleuth and subject begin to blur as the two realize they may have tapped into something far more dangerous than either initially realized.
With an interesting mystery at its core, Muffled begins in absorbing fashion. The scant information surrounding Greta’s disappearance is succinctly and intriguingly delivered, setting the stage nicely for the winding investigation that follows.
From the get-go, the film toys with some fascinating ideas about the motives of people who make true crime documentaries. Nora and Harper position themselves as old friends of Greta on an altruistic pursuit of justice but neither spent any time with Greta in the final years of her life and both face flack from other figures from their childhood, who question how important Greta really was to them.
McNamee demonstrates a willingness to explore the ethical dilemmas underlying true crime documentaries and throws some thought-provoking ideas into the mix that may have one question the true intentions of the filmmakers behind all the true crime content we consume. However, McNamee doesn’t quite go far enough with these ideas. Instead, he is seemingly content introducing them into the fold and then swiftly abandoning them, before revisiting them rather heavy-handedly in the final 5-10 minutes.
Commendable yet ultimately underdeveloped messaging aside, Muffled slowly transitions away from faux true crime and toward more traditional found footage horror as its runtime progresses. Although this pivot means the movie steadily loses some of its relative novelty as a docu-horror, it gives way to a number of unsettling scenes as the women gradually realize that they have tapped into the very supernatural forces responsible for Greta’s disappearance.
McNamee exercises restraint in not relying on jump scares to elicit chills, instead allowing them to come from unnerving figures lurking in the darkness, creepy old videotapes, and occult rituals gone wrong. Muffled never quite encroaches on truly scary territory, although it certainly finds a way to burrow under your skin a number of times.
Much of the effectiveness of docu-horror and found footage movies comes from the believability of their performances, something Muffled unfortunately struggles with. Movies like The Blair Witch Project and Lake Mungo are as terrifying as they are, because the suspension of disbelief comes easily. The performances don’t feel like performances but like real people doing real things. McNamee’s movie errs in this regard as the actors across the board deliver stilted, unnatural performances that detract from one’s immersion in the story.
After a solid escalation of tension in the final act, Muffled comes to an abrupt and underwhelming end. The concluding 5-10 minutes lack the subtlety of writing and nuance of acting necessary to land McNamee’s intended commentary on the ethics of true crime. Coupled with a poorly executed resolution for our lead characters that lacks the necessary dramatic punch, the film wraps up in decidedly less absorbing fashion than it began.
VERDICT: 6/10
Making its world premiere at this year’s Dances with Films, Muffled blends faux true crime documentary with found footage horror for a film that does more right than it does wrong. Writer-director Stephen McNamee arrives on an intriguing mystery for his protagonists to investigate before the film relegates conventions of the true crime genre aside in favor of more traditional horror fare. While never truly encroaching on terrifying territory, McNamee’s film refreshingly avoids jump scares and, instead, elicits chills through unnerving figures lurking in the darkness, creepy old videotapes, and occult rituals gone wrong. The filmmaker toys with interesting ideas about the ethics of true crime documentarians but unfortunately does not follow through in giving these ideas the attention and depth that they deserve. Stilted and unnatural acting detracts from immersion in the film’s narrative, which ultimately comes to an underwhelming and abrupt conclusion. Muffled unfolds as its title suggests – poor acting and underdeveloped commentary soften the impact of what is otherwise a solid docu-horror worthy of a watch.