Moth: Written Review

December 4, 2018

Moth

Written Review

Hi everyone and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, the show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions.

Today’s review is of 2016’s Horror Feature, MOTH, written by MyIndie featured artist, József Gallai who co-directed it with Gergö Elekes.

This will be the THIRD time we review one of József’s films after having reviewed 2016’s horror feature A Guidbook To Killing Your Ex on the very first episode of MyIndie Review Vlog, and 2018’s horror short Echoes, on Episode 16 of the show.

Thank you Gentlemen, for sharing your work with us.

Thora, portrayed by Lídia Szabó is a young woman and a college teacher. She talks to her students about the mysterious case of the legendary “Mothman” sightings reported in the USA and reveals to them that lately, some twenty-two new reports on the same mythical creature have been documented in a specific region of Hungary.

Curious to pursue an investigation, Thora tells her students she intends to go visit the area of the alleged reports and requests a volunteer to escort her in her quest.

Adam, played by József Gallali, rises to the occasion.

The two head off to the cold secluded countryside of Hungary and not long after that, things begin to gradually get weirder and weirder as they encounter things that challenge their temperament and sense of logic.

As the story rushes toward its climax, our characters face a reality they didn’t expect and by experiencing that, they show us and one another who they really are.

Moth is a found footage style horror with a premise that calls back to Mark Pellington’s 2002 horror mystery The Mothman Prophecies, starring Richard Gere, and based on the John A. Keel’s novel of the same name.

There is an ominous tone all the way through the film, that gives out an atmosphere of uneasiness, so the horror element is well embedded in the visuals even before the story progresses.

Common for found-footage style indie films and as I’ve seen before in József’s A Guidebook To Killing Your ex, there is a minimalist approach to the cinematic expression. There are many prolonged one shot scenes, whether it is for dialogue, monologue or horror sequences.

Other than facing a greater challenge to keep things interesting, shooting a film with a minimalist approach means that there is nothing there to compensate for poorly designed story. That’s why it is well apparent that Gergö and József, have a pretty good hold on their craft.

For a director’s cut seventy-two minutes of run-time the film holds perfectly well, and does a wonderful job delivering the horror.

There were some choices that I didn’t quite agree with. Some elements I would have wished to have been dealt with differently, but in total Moth holds up as an intriguing horror film and gives yet further proof to József’s and Gergö’s growing skill as storytellers.

For a found footage film, production value is excellent. Cinematography was meticulously handled and the performances were quite convincing.

Moth gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m A Film Critic scale!