Being a fan of all things Mothman and having made a film about the creature myself,I was interested to hear there was a new feature by Hungarian duo Gergö Elekesand József Gallai. I got in touch via the films Facebook page and József kindly got back to me with a screener.
The premise is simple. Lecturer Thora travels to Hungary with one of her students to a sight where the Mothman has been recently seen. They arrive armed with camerasand investigate the mystery. Thora is also an aspiring actress and has hopes the film they make could boost her profile.
Moth is a found footage horror although some scenes have been filmed as a traditional narrative.
Moth is quite an unusual experience. Although filmed in Hungary the cast speak English. Thora is Ukrainian and her companion Adam is from Sweden. This gives the film a somewhat detached feeling. It almost feels at times that they are repeating their dialogue phonetically. You would think that this could make the film difficult to engage with but I found it added to the general strangeness and off-kilter vibe. It’s as if the characters exist in their own world with some moments reminding me of David Lynch’s ‘Inland Empire’. ‘Moth’ has some quite suspenseful moments but its main strengths come from its heavy atmosphere and beautiful location.
I have seen many films similar to Moth and switched them off after 10 minutes but I was engaged throughout. My husband who absolutely hates found-footage films sat through it too and quite enjoyed it, so that’s a pretty decent recommendation.
OVERALL SUMMARY
If you enjoy found footage you’ll probably enjoy Moth, just embrace the weirdness. It’s simply a strange and atmospheric found-footage mystery.
