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You'll Never Find Me
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (7th July 2024). |
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The Film
 "You'll Never Find Me" (2023) Patrick (played by Brendan Rock) lives alone in his caravan in a rural trailer park. On one stormy evening, a young woman (played by Jordan Cowan) knocks at his door, looking for shelter as her car broke down. While slightly reluctant, he offers her some tea and dry clothes until the storm clears. But as they talk throughout the evening, some things don't quite add up, with Patrick questioning how the woman came into the closed off trailer park, and some of Patrick's stories that he is telling her may or may not be true. "You'll Never Find Me" is a chamber film taking place almost entirely in one enclosed location, this being the caravan of the character Patrick. In addition, there are basically only two characters for most of the feature with the unnamed woman and Patrick. It can be difficult to sustain audiences for a feature length runtime with such constrictions placed as there is no change in scenery and no change in characters on screen. While it has its flaws and imperfections, it does a good job in leading audiences down a claustrophobic mental labyrinth for its duration, thanks to the performances and the direction by Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell. Bell, who also wrote the screenplay makes sure to give hints and clues to the mystery between the two seemingly strangers, without cramming a lot of dialogue and focusing on atmosphere. The caravan, which was constructed on a set in Adelaide has a lived in quality with the design and decoration, of a single older man that isn't particularly minimalist or very cramped. It is small and the production makes use of the limited space with the setups with the characters, without a lot of camera movement but through editing. In addition, the setting is on a stormy night so there are shots of lightning flashes seen throughout which were done with simple light flashes and added sound effects of rain and thunder in post production. Shot on a small budget and with a minimal cast and crew, the production staff were able to create a fantastically ordinary yet creepy looking setting that only gets more claustrophobic when the power goes out midway through. It's fairly difficult to discuss the plot of the film without falling into spoilers, as the story's twist is not a sudden jolt at the end of the film like conventional horror twists, but one that slowly unravels during the course of the film. With the character of Patrick established as a man living a quiet life alone, the entrance of the young woman into his space makes her seem like the suspicious one. When she says she came walking from the beach, he thinks it's a far distance for someone to walk in the storm. In addition, she has no answer of how she walked into the trailer park, as he says the gates to the area should have been locked at night. But later, there are inconsistencies with Patrick as well, such as him saying he had no phone for her to borrow, but a ring would be heard. He also lies about being a single man and other aspects, so there are more questions that both characters are asking each other as well as for the audience who are not quite sure of their motivations and the direction the story is going. Both are hiding things from their past, so it seems, and when all is revealed it can be a bit of a stretch to believe the connection, but viscerally quite effective nonetheless. One fault might be that the runtime might be slightly too long at 100 minutes for the story, which could have been condensed to a short, as the dialogue is paced out and minimal in comparison. This was the filmmakers' first feature length after a series of short films, and their shorts were well paced and well conceived in comparison. It's difficult to say if there was a better way to use the 100 minute runtime for the story to improve its storytelling without breaking the chamber set. There could have been some more flashbacks to give better context, but sometimes less is more. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in the United States on June 10th, 2023, followed by a few other international festival screenings before premiering in its native Australia at the Adelaide International Film Festival on October 21st, 2023. It was given a general theatrical release in Australia from March 7th, 2024 and streaming in various territories worldwide. The film has received a number of positive praises and was nominated for Best Feature at the Adelaide International Film Festival, won Best Musical Score for composer Darren Lim at Screamfest, and won Best Sound for an Independent Feature Film from the Australian Screen Sound Guild. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in the 2.00:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. Shot digitally on Arri Alexa cameras, the presentation has an overall dark look with the dim lighting for the set, with emphasis on reds and browns. The transfer looks excellent with great detail shown for faces, wardrobe, and the set decorations, with crisp clarity and a consistent tone for the color palate. There is basically nothing to fault, with an excellent flawless transfer for the film presented here. The film's runtime is 99:31.
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo Lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options are both available for the film. While it may take place in a mostly singular location, the sound design is crucial with the surrounding rain, the whispers heard, and the music cues enveloping the soundscape. Dialogue is almost entirely centered and is well balanced against the music and effects throughout. The 2.0 is a downmix, and while good it lacks the discreet effects and noises that make the experience whole. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the feature in a white font, which are well timed and easy to read.
Extras
Audio commentary with directors Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell The directors sit together for a chatty commentary that looks at the behind the process of their first feature film. Discussed about are the construction of the caravan set, the difficulties of shooting in a singular location, the set design, the changes in the lighting, the rain effects, the small crew, the audio design choices, technical troubles experienced, as well individual praises for the cast and crew. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Behind the Scenes" featurette (5:48) This featurette is a dialogue free interview free montage of behind the scenes clips, comprised of set construction, wardrobe creation, makeup effects, vinsual effects, B-roll footage, and more. It is way too short with its runtime of less than 6 minutes, as there is a lot of interesting footage to see. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, Music Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Call Connect." 2019 short film (17:21) At a suicide hotline center, an operator (played by Caithlin O'Loghlen) receives her very first call on the job and it is from a man (played by Brendan Rock) who has called the center on a number of occasions in the past. While she gets tense and nervous as she scrambles to follow the rulebook, the caller is ironically the calm one in the situation. This short film directed by Allen and Bell is a fantastic piece that is done in one shot one take with a very slowly zooming camera focused on O'Loghlen's character, while Rock's is entirely a voice on the other side of the phone. There is tension with the nervousness while also having humor and emotional drama, and is a simple yet fantastic short that is absolutely worth the time and effort. The short shows that a singular location and two characters are very effective for an intense piece, even in a short amount of time. The short has been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "The Recordist" 2020 short film (19:17) Andrew (played by Brendan Rock) is a sound recordist who starts to fall for Amy (played by Jordan Cowan), an actress who is part of a production he is working on. He happens to hear some private conversations from the various crewmembers through hot mics from the set, and finds some information on Amy that doesn't sit well for him... This short by Allen and Bell sits more on convention in comparison, though the unsettling atmosphere is here with the lightness and the darkness seen in the performance by Rock, who gave a great performance by voice in the previous short, and here with a clean shaven look. Films such as "Blow Out", "The Conversation", and "The Lives of Others" were able to showcase paranoia through the eyes and ears of sound recordists in feature films in tense ways, this short has a unique take by twisting it with the unusual nature of the recordist himself being something close to a villain, but not exactly. Rock would work with the directors again in their feature length debut "You'll Never Find Me" with a similar tone of creepiness but with the transformation with a fill beard. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles The film was first released on Blu-ray in Germany which only had trailers as extras. The Australian Umbrella Entertainment release from a month later did not include trailers, but instead have the above extras included. The upcoming US Blu-ray from Shudder will have the commentary and behind the scenes plus a photo gallery as extras. Other notable clips: The original trailer, courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment An interview with the directors on That Reminds Me Of An interview with the directors on That Hashtag Show Audio interview with the directors on Subculture Entertainment An interview with the directors on Novastream An interview with the directors on Popternative Video Interview: Co-Director Josiah Allen and Writer/Co-Director Indianna Bell Discuss YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME from Daily Dead on Vimeo. An interview with the directors on Daily Dead
Packaging
The disc is packaged in a standard keep case with reversible artwork, without the Australian MA 15+ rating logos. The packaging mistakenly states region B only, but is in fact region ALL. There is also a Collector's Edition limited to 300 copies exclusively from the Umbrella Webshop which also includes a slipcase and a 20 page booklet. The booklet includes a statement from directors Allen and Bell, followed by a statement on the writing by Bell, and a statement on the cinematography by Maxx Corkindale. There are also images of storyboards, the production design, makeup and special effects. There are additional written statements on the sound design and the score by Duncan Campbell and Darren Lim respectively. Finally, there is an alternate poster design by Aleksander Walijewski and behind the scenes stills. The collector's edition's J-card mistakenly states the aspect ratio as 1.85:1, while the keep case's inlay correctly states the aspect ratio as 2.00:1.
Overall
"You'll Never Find Me" is a slow twisting psychological horror with a minimal cast and singular location and quite effective with its construction. Umbrella Entertainment has given it a great release on Blu-ray with a good number extras, making this highly recommended.
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