Anacoreta Breakdown: Found Footage Horror & Act 3 landings

This week on Streamin’ Demons, Jo and Amelie take a look at the 2022 indie horror film Anacoreta. The movie follows a group of filmmakers heading out to a remote cabin in the woods to shoot an experimental horror project, but as the cameras keep rolling the situation slowly starts to unravel.

The acting is surprisingly strong, especially considering the cast is often playing actors inside the film itself. Jo and Amelie talk about how that works in the movie’s favor early on, along with the solid atmosphere and setup. But once the story hits the third act, the logic starts to slip and the tension that was building begins to fall apart.

Along the way the hosts also get into a debate about how people react to danger in the woods. Amelie’s instinct is to call out to a stranger and figure out who they are. Jo’s instinct is much simpler: get in the truck and leave.

Is Anacoreta worth checking out? Jo and Amelie break down what works, what doesn’t, and why the film ends up being a mix of solid ideas and frustrating decisions.

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KEY MOMENTS

Opening riff – Jo kicks things off joking about reviewing a “new” movie from 2022 that they couldn’t talk about until now.

The premise – A group of filmmakers head to a remote cabin to shoot an experimental horror movie… and things slowly start unraveling.

Acting inside acting – The cast pulls off the tricky job of playing actors making a movie, shifting between intentionally bad acting and real performances.

Jo’s take – The first two acts work well, but once the movie hits Act 3 the internal logic falls apart and the tension drops.

Cultural clash moment – Jo and Amelie debate what they’d actually do if they saw a stranger who was stalking them in the dark in the woods. Amelie would call out and talk. Jo’s response: get in the truck and leave.

Location oddity – The “abandoned” cabin somehow has perfectly maintained flowers, which becomes one of the episode’s running jokes.

Final verdict – There’s real talent here from the filmmakers, but the third act keeps the movie from landing as well as it could.