Found
A shy and bullied 12 year old, Marty (Shane Brown), find his refuge in horror films to escape the pain of his day to day life. Unfortunately for him, his life turns into a real life horror story when he discovers that his older brother Steve (Ethan Philbeck) is keeping severed heads in his closet and is actually a serial killer.
Found takes far too long to get anywhere, with a dull and longwinded first act filled with characters that the film never even makes an effort in establishing that. Director Scott Schirmer lingers on moments needlessly while skimming over some that are ultimately more important. Interest is lost too early in a kid that we’re supposed to have some empathy for.
The film picks up a bit down the stretch once the secrets are revealed, but it’s filled with some random plot points that are either supposed to be taken very seriously (like the issue of bullying) or just flat out ignored (some random undertones of racism) that do nothing for the overall narrative. The violence and gore moments are supposed to show how this young man is being warped from neglect, but it plays terribly because the undercurrent of a bad home life takes away from Marty’s attempts to understand his brother. The film hinges on the flimsy notion that everyone around him never even gave him the slightest sense of right or wrong, and he’s his own interacting with what he sees around him. Without just explanation, it makes the characters of the story very hollow.
Found never decides on a tone and tries to play up the conflicted nature of Marty ,but it’s a messy mishmash of concepts and ideas that never come together and that’s hard to connect with on any level. (Dave Voigt)
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