Making a film is always a challenge. And some films want you to understand that from the outset.
In Anacoreta, Jeremy (Jeremy Schuetze) is a director with a mission. Taking his cast and crew up to a remote cabin, it’s his dream to create the next great experimental horror movie. However, to him the ‘process’ is what brings authenticity to the film, leading to a number of erratic decisions that threaten their relationships. As the weekend (and the film) begins to unravel, the team begins to question who—or what—the true monster in their midst may be.
Directed by (and starring) Jeremy Schuetze, Anacoreta is a fun film that wants to upend its own sense of storytelling. Similar to The Blair Witch Project, Anacoreta has a deep love for the single-camera horror that gives the film a sense of authenticity. By following his crew for the weekend, the film almost feels like you’re genuinely participating with Schuetze and his team as they attempt to make their horrifying opus. This sort of guerilla filmmaking suits the film well as it offers the piece a more grounded reality.
However, at the same time, Anacoreta wants to play with the very authenticity that it offers the viewer on first glance. Aligning itself with an untrustworthy narrator, the film is more than willing to undercut its own sensibilities. (In this way, the film also seems like a distant cousin to Cabin in the Woods.) Backstabbing characters and callbacks to the filmmaking process constantly blur the lines between fiction and reality. In essence, we know that this is a film about making a film.
But so do the characters themselves.
In doing so, Anacoreta never allows the viewer to become entirely comfortable with their surroundings. This is a film that feels like a meta-experiment and it continues to keep the ground shifting under your feet. This sort of narrative-breaking is a bold choice for a film of this nature. It can make it a tonne of fun or, at times, it can also be frustrating. After all, we, as viewers, instinctively trust the filmmaker to tell us their story. But Anacoretawants to take that away from us. To some, it will make the film energetic and fun. To others, it could feel manipulative.
But, in many ways, this is a testament to some solid work by its cast, especially Antonia Thomas. As a fictionalized version of herself, Thomas does a solid job of holding the film together. There’s a certain element of charismatic chaos in her performance. She is passionate about her performance but furious with her partner’s erratic behaviour.
After all, this isn’t a film that allows you remain neutral. You care about these characters, even in moments where the film takes that relationship of trust away from the viewer.
In the end though, one can’t deny that Anacoreta is a lot of fun. While it isn’t a modern classic, it knows what it wants to be from the outset and has some solid, stylistic energy from its cast. Trust me. Would I lie to you?
Anacoreta is available on VOD now.
