In 2014 Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass let loose a fascinating and darkly comic found footage flick concerning the demented game a predator plays with his prey. It was a lean and mean bit of intrigue anchored completely by Duplass bringing his A-game as a monster both charming and unsettling. This time out we follow a video artist named Sara as she journeys to a secluded house in the woods to answer an advertisement from a man who wants to get deep and uncomfortable. Sara’s projects are an exploration on lonely people who write online personal adds and when the man claims to be a serial killer, she’s way too intrigued to pass up the opportunity for a project promising to be this shocking… the views she’ll probably garner also has her silencing that voice of reason in her head. The man, Aaron (Duplass, thankfully reprising his role), offers to have her spend the day with him and we’ve seen from the opening act of murder that he’s facing a bit of a midlife crisis. He’s worried about his instincts and feels that he has lost something important. He’s very open about this right off the bat and Sara takes him up on his offer to not kill her (over the next 24 hours) and document his soul-bearing. She seems up for the challenge that this man is presenting, she also has her doubts about his claims of being the most prominent serial killer the world has never heard of. It’s a dangerous game she begins playing when she plans on using provocation to get what she needs from her subject and her subject may have plans of his own. Since we already know exactly what Aaron is the movie needed another angle to keep us on our toes and they killed it with the addition of Desiree Akhavan’s Sara who seems to be successfully tangoing with a man who is way more familiar leading the dance. An incredibly worthy follow up to an unexpected found footage masterpiece that maintains the same level of discomfort and pitch-black comedy. Impressive to say the least. Followed by a fascinating series (still ongoing at the point of this writing) which has allowed for this character to gain depth in a completely natural way.
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