Film review: #Starvecrow (3 out of 5)

Billed as the world's first '˜selfie' film or Hypereal experience, #Starvecrow has strong Sussex links.
#Starvecrow the worlds first movie filmed on smartphone SUS-160120-114433001#Starvecrow the worlds first movie filmed on smartphone SUS-160120-114433001
#Starvecrow the worlds first movie filmed on smartphone SUS-160120-114433001

The University of Brighton was involved in production and Hastings was one of the venues used.

It’s had plenty of publicity because of its unusual format - but what is the movie like?

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Well, it’s a dark (very dark on occasions) film about obsession and how people interact with the world in the digital age.

We meet Ben, a young man who insists on filming everything on his phone.

We see him meet up with Jess, an obvioulsy very close friend who has been in rehab and who seems particularly annoyed that Ben has a girlfriend.

Jess says she needs some space and is going to a party at a house in some woods.

However, not everyone at the party has been invited...

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And if that summary sounds very mysterious, that’s because this is a film that creates an eerie atmosphere throughout with the hand-held camerawork producing a claustrophic feel.

This is a movie that will shock some people, as the camera lingers on some scenes that, although are a part of life, aren’t nornally focused on in quite so much detail.

Plus there’s the extreme language and drug use.

But if you’re prepared to give it a chance this is a fascinating bit of film-making, right up to the final shock denouement.

The actors, mostly improvising, give great performances which helps increase the tension.

But full credit to whoever pulled together the ‘stolen’ smartphone and ‘hacked’ CCTV footage - 69 hours in all - and boiled it down to an 84 minute feature.

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