I really like this genre of film just as much as I enjoy found footage horrors and some as comedies. This was so believable I'm embarrassed to say I had to look it up to make sure if it was or not. Keep them coming!
49 Reviews
well done mockumentary
killercharm1 August 2021
A found footage mockumentary that's so well done it appears to be a documentary. Also the disappearance stories are interesting. They're like Absentia the movie meets Skinwalker Ranch the movie. A nice tension is built up that's engrossing. A couple just bought a house and the wife goes missing. The husband is befuddled because she appeared to vanish in the blink of an eye. Turns out she's not the only one.
Faux Documentary
shannon-bill3 April 2021
Reasonably entertaining pseudo documentary. It tries hard to hide the fact that it's all fictitious but its clear that these are actors playing roles. The 2nd half is a bit better than the first but be prepared to suspend disbelief for some supernatural shenanigans.
I was intrigued the entire time!
jleestewy27 July 2021
Definitely NOT a Documentary
Whovian_7614 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I found this on Tubi and thought it might be an unsolved mystery-type documentary, but it's definitely a found-footage style movie in the same vein of Blair Witch or any of the similar ones after it. I mean, it's decent, but you can definitely tell that some of these folks are acting. I love disappearance movies, documentary or not, so I enjoyed it.
Not a documentary
hedoann17 July 2021
Okay
HumbleMensa23 December 2023
I give this a solid six for what it turned out to be. The story is pretty good, and I didn't know where it was going for a bit and it had some twists that link up well. It is let down by the acting pretty early on and that's unfortunate. Now, that being said I don't think any of the actors are what I'd say seasoned actors which some will have been on purpose, given the plot. However, people definitely behave in a certain way during certain situations and the lack of emotion portrayed by any of the actors does it a disservice. I kept watching to see if I could figure it out, which it wasn't what I expected so that was handled well. It was shot well, scenery realistic. Idea good.
Not a waste of time.
berg-745327 February 2022
Great story the acting by the ancillary characters was strong but the leads were not believable, which helps to blow the illusion. The lead male did not act like a man under very real and ongoing suspicion of his wife's disappearance which took place less than a month earlier. It was creepy and if the story was adapted to a full on horror movie it could be entertaining.
Well directed
gary-erwin23 September 2021
Enjoyed it
paxton-daniel13 June 2021
I found it very enjoyable. I thought some of the acting was a bit stilted, but much of it as fine and some downright entertaining. If you go in with the mindset that it is a real documentary you will soon realize that it is only written and filmed to capture that feeling. I may watch it again in a couple of weeks if I can find the time...
Docufiction
kevincraigmagic23 December 2023
Billed as a documentary this is actually fiction.
The film makers went to great lengths to give this "authenticity" however a few of the characters and the acting give it away.
The storyline is good and in some parts believable as well as the "found footage"
It's about halfway through the acting gets a bit sloppy which is a shame as it loses its edge.
I'm not a fan of "found footage" genre in any case but went with it.
I'd recommend it over films like the Poughkeepsie Tapes where the acting is so bad (see review) and the script just not believable.
All in all it's a reasonable watch and a good effort.
The film makers went to great lengths to give this "authenticity" however a few of the characters and the acting give it away.
The storyline is good and in some parts believable as well as the "found footage"
It's about halfway through the acting gets a bit sloppy which is a shame as it loses its edge.
I'm not a fan of "found footage" genre in any case but went with it.
I'd recommend it over films like the Poughkeepsie Tapes where the acting is so bad (see review) and the script just not believable.
All in all it's a reasonable watch and a good effort.
A big nothing burger
zach-tiefling23 May 2022
Imagine having a good idea for a mockumentary and then going nowhere with it. That is this movie: It's 30 minutes stretched and padded to three times the length it needed to be, ending at the point when, after a lot of buildup, something interesting should happen. At the end movie even brings up it's own inconsistencies, throws its hands up in the air and exlaims 'I don't know!'.
Suspicsh...
favoritestar26 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
OK totally thought this was a documentary and was super excited to see it. As I was watching this I was thinking is this real?! There is some really bad acting going on who acts like this telling about a true story? I couldn't find any information about this online to make the story true and then I realized OK this is totally fake. The older couple are great actors. The interrogation room 😂 OK the good thoughts about this it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, I wanted to keep watching. I wouldn't say this is a documentary I would say this is more of Syfy, aliens, ghosts etc.
Filmmakers with no backbone
moubinfarouk19 October 2021
Captivating, Intriguing, Supernatural
papreppergal13 June 2021
If you can stomach the acting of any given LIFETIME movie, you can handle this movie.
It may not be what you were expecting based on the description, but if you stick with it, it gets better & better. If you go into this faux-documentary thinking "Missing 411", you're more equipt for the eventual storyline. And if you've never heard of the "Missing 411" stories, check them out. They're unsolved mysteries of people suddenly going missing, with clues of what happened to them that never seem to add up. Sometimes people are found alive weeks later with no memory of having been gone for vast amounts of time, some are found dead, and some are never found.
I think what turns viewers away from this movie is that it's bringing in the wrong crowd. Most start watching this for the documentary aspect of a crime/mystery/thriller and their expectations are poorly met. But if this was marketed towards supernatural, unexplained mysteries, "Missing 411" type of genre, it would fare far better with the viewing audience.
You wouldn't label a "Romantic" movie a "Thriller". Generally, women like romance and men like thrillers. What would you expect when you lure the wrong audience in for a thriller and they're stuck watching a romance? Very bad reviews and a low rating. Imo, that's what's happening with this movie, "Howard's Mill".
If you like the "Missing 411" series, supernatural phenomenon, and unsolved mysteries, then this movie is for you. And I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it too.
It may not be what you were expecting based on the description, but if you stick with it, it gets better & better. If you go into this faux-documentary thinking "Missing 411", you're more equipt for the eventual storyline. And if you've never heard of the "Missing 411" stories, check them out. They're unsolved mysteries of people suddenly going missing, with clues of what happened to them that never seem to add up. Sometimes people are found alive weeks later with no memory of having been gone for vast amounts of time, some are found dead, and some are never found.
I think what turns viewers away from this movie is that it's bringing in the wrong crowd. Most start watching this for the documentary aspect of a crime/mystery/thriller and their expectations are poorly met. But if this was marketed towards supernatural, unexplained mysteries, "Missing 411" type of genre, it would fare far better with the viewing audience.
You wouldn't label a "Romantic" movie a "Thriller". Generally, women like romance and men like thrillers. What would you expect when you lure the wrong audience in for a thriller and they're stuck watching a romance? Very bad reviews and a low rating. Imo, that's what's happening with this movie, "Howard's Mill".
If you like the "Missing 411" series, supernatural phenomenon, and unsolved mysteries, then this movie is for you. And I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it too.
I quit before 8 minutes had elapsed
dontreadwelldon11 August 2021
I hate television shows. Modern ones anyway. And that is what this was. An indie film trying to be a documentary style tv show. Why on earth would anyone try so hard, create all the fiction, bring in all the fake sidekicks, just to mimic something so lame and abhorent? And who would would be interested in watching it? It isn't real, so where is the fascination? This is "found footage" going in a brand new and detestable direction. I'm unsure how it got released and propagated to the degree in which it did. If this somehow becomes some new genre in movie-making - We're all screwed.
Deceitful, not a documentary!!!
biancob-1670223 August 2021
Fake
emplehod-21 March 2022
Found this categorized as a documentary and two minutes in, it looked totally fake. I watch a lot of crime documentaries. Even Blair Witch Project was never advertised as real, but it was more believable than this.
Total crap.
Total crap.
Atrocious to say the least
Dorjee_Wang16 September 2021
Don't get me wrong, my expectations and standards when it comes to found footage movies are usually low but this movie failed to live up to that standard as well.
It follows a man whose wife disappeared mysteriously and he hires a documentary crew to help him make a documentary on that and as the movie goes they discover more disappearances that might be related to his wife's. While the premise is interesting enough, the plot and execution both were atrocious to say the least.
As the movie moves on, they pile up one question after another and resolve none of them. By the end the movie goes into a "What the f?" territory where nothing is resolved and ends in an incredibly anticlimactic way that just ends up leaving a bad taste in your mouth. The movie starts with 1 mystery, but ends with so many of them unresolved. It's a very frustrating watch. The acting itself was pretty mediocre as well, but that's normal when it comes to found footage.
Anyway, would NOT recommend. It's just a complete waste of time. 1/10.
It follows a man whose wife disappeared mysteriously and he hires a documentary crew to help him make a documentary on that and as the movie goes they discover more disappearances that might be related to his wife's. While the premise is interesting enough, the plot and execution both were atrocious to say the least.
As the movie moves on, they pile up one question after another and resolve none of them. By the end the movie goes into a "What the f?" territory where nothing is resolved and ends in an incredibly anticlimactic way that just ends up leaving a bad taste in your mouth. The movie starts with 1 mystery, but ends with so many of them unresolved. It's a very frustrating watch. The acting itself was pretty mediocre as well, but that's normal when it comes to found footage.
Anyway, would NOT recommend. It's just a complete waste of time. 1/10.
Expected something different
jgaudetiv6 April 2021
NOT A DOCUMENTARY
jdksrkncbs26 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Being from the town depicted in this mockumentary, the people who created this could have done a little more research when it came to things like the school colors, etc. Big things are in the details you know? AND, this is actually yet another movie depicting Robertson County wrong (see the block buster movie about the Bell witch-again, WRONG). But the biggest thing that gets me is that there is an actual mother and child that are missing from this county that have never been found. No one has ever been brought to justice either. This movie I realize was done in fun, but is over acted, details are wrong, and is distasteful. Us Robertson County residents do not claim this.
Kinda okay
nicolinafina16 August 2021
I just picked something random and it was under the documentary genre so thought it was a real one.
I thought it was a little odd and it took me 20 minutes to actually search for it to see if it was real.
I thought it was okay, I might not recomend it to others - but didn't feel like waste of time.
I thought it was a little odd and it took me 20 minutes to actually search for it to see if it was real.
I thought it was okay, I might not recomend it to others - but didn't feel like waste of time.
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