LIFE OF BELLE (2024)
Tubi streaming horror from Terror Films opens in 2018 with a police officer (Victor Mele) responding to a 911 call of screams coming from a house. He arrives on the scene to find three residents dead and the fourth, a little girl named Belle (Syrenne Robinson), missing. Now in 2024 authorities release not only the house security footage but footage filmed by Belle with a camera she received on her birthday. The hope being that the footage will produce leads as to where little Belle has disappeared to.
What happened in this house? Where is Belle?
Found footage flick is written and directed by Shawn Robinson and while it has severe Paranormal Activity envy, it is actually effective on its own. The footage begins with Belle getting her camera, as we meet her, brother Link (Zachary Robinson), her mom (Sarah Mae Robinson) and dad (Matthew Robinson). We immediately see something is not right in this home with a scream from mom in the night and the father trying to get a reassurance from his wife that she is taking her meds. Soon the father leaves for a business trip, and mom is left alone with Belle and Link. The film then follows along with mom’s increasingly emotional unraveling after she throws out her medication, leading up to that fateful night. It is disturbing and a bit heartbreaking to watch these cute kids dealing with an increasingly unhinged mother, someone they should always feel safe and protected by who is becoming increasingly frightening and unpredictable. The last night is difficult to watch and while not totally effective, writer/director Robinson leaves us with some final images that may give a disturbing clue as to mom’s suddenly shift in behavior and what might have befallen Belle. It’s something subtly hinted at if you’re paying attention. The cast are good, especially little Syrenne Robinson as internet star wannabe Belle and Sarah Mae Robinson as her downward spiraling mother. Not perfect and a little too reminiscent of the Paranormal Activity films but worth a look, especially if you like found footage. Now streaming free on Tubi.
-MonsterZero NJ
Photo: Terror Films
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