I Blame Society (2020) Poster

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4/10
One part oddball black comedy, one part navel-gazing video diary
youngcollind22 July 2022
This movie exists on such small scale that it almost feels cruel to bash it, yet considering the effort involved in making nearly any other film, it also wouldn't feel right to give it too much praise either.

It just may be the most strangely meta movie you'll ever see. It's an indie movie, written, directed and starring the filmmaker about a filmmaker who chooses to write, direct and star in her own indie movie. It focuses on the rejection she receives from the film industry, and how her friends and family keep telling her the movie she's making (the one you're watching) is a bad idea. One can't help but get the impression that this is all painfully true to life, outside of a couple murders that assure you it's a work of fiction.

The messaging of the film is a bit muddled, taking some worthwhile shots at the prejudices that exist in the movie business, but ultimately amounting to whining about the worst millennial grievances. Being of the age bracket myself, I can relate to how rejection from arts jobs can sting in a special kind of way, but the belief that you're entitled to them is born out of such a mountain of privilege that you should probably just shut your mouth, or at the very least not make art about how much it sucks that nobody will give you money to make your art. However, with the title "I Blame Society", the entire film may be aiming to satirize this very thing, it's just a little unclear how self aware it actually is. At other times, it can be self aware to a fault, with the self deprecating humour drawing attention to it's shortcomings, and beating you to the punch of valid criticism.

Flawed as it is, I'll still commend Gillian Wallace Horvat for having such a bizarre idea and the tenacity to see it through to completion. She's an army of one who's undeniably made at least one more movie than I ever will.
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6/10
a film you...
ops-5253517 February 2021
Might regret that you started to watch. its so easy and smug in the start until all of a sudden your entwined into something very very cruel that you really regret you put on for your kids at your saturday family getogether by the screen.

its the story about the well educated, wannabe filmaker that noone will take serious, neither as a person or her recent work. she also has a mouthfull of bimbolistic chatter that only the most precarious and patient person are able to live with. so when all the naysayers has turned her into a ''looser'' on the filmfront, shes hit by a shot of ptsd and comes up with a sinister plan to make ''them'' believe in her, and that she can manage better than anyone, and that the completed product will create attention.

its a slow burner of a tacky horrorthriller, it has a dull start, but when the cooking plate is on full every sane person will remove the hand, cause when the boiling point is reached, youre in for a pretty gory autobiographic cv of a jobless filmaker.

the cast is very small on actors, they act fine though, the main does the pathinery into an art of itself, and the director has screwed together a story that possibly couldve happened in real life. the grumpy old man though who doesnt like films with tirades of chatter gives just 6 stars, but the idea and concept very good.
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5/10
Kind of cool idea
cylemmulo16 February 2021
Wanted to like it. However they tried to go the extra miles on some parts where they really shouldn't have, like adding in some really dumb effects in places where it would have been better without. The main plot just needed something extra. I get the main character was a bad person but they didn't really have any likable qualities for me to want to watch them and it didn't really feel like found footage either. I just wanted to the whole thing to be over. The end was just so lazy and predictable.
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2/10
Shaky Hand Held Camera Genre
westsideschl9 June 2021
You've seen those horror flicks using a hand held cheap camera as actors walk down dark passages. This is in the same vein only more boring & more light. The worst parts are a script that goes nowhere, i.e. Lots, and lots of talking heads; very self-centered in not a good way (obviously w/actor, writer, director the same person); very cheaply filmed especially the killing scenes seemed like a high school production using store room props.
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7/10
Why all the hate?
charliecoffell9 February 2022
Chompcrc here. This film does not deserve all the negative reviews. I have seen some garbage, and this is far from it. If you don't like found footage movies, steer clear, but otherwise, check it out. Of course the main character is not very likable. Hello, she's a narcissistic murderer. This film does a good job of showcasing denial, obsession, and psychopathy, in a manner not seen in a good while. I'm sure it's derivative, but isn't everything? If you like quirky, character driven psycho-comedy, this is the one for you.
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1/10
Hell to the naw
MovieCriticOnline23 May 2021
Go watch the original film, Man Bites Dog, if you want the real thing. I grade this below "F" due to the rip-off.

It's a shame that when someone finally gets to make a movie they make this garbage. You have to throw out any logic and suspense of disbelief to sit through this mess.

And try to make it believable with some good actors and likable characters. You can't insert a "timecode" in the right upper corner and think we believe it's actual found "footage." They didn't even try to make it feel like an actual fake documentary.

Again, go watch the masterpiece, Man Bites Dog, if you want real mockumentary about a filming a serial killer committing murders. I could go on and on what is wrong with this, but I have other things to do. It was just so poorly done and very confusing. The so-called found footage was pretty much indistinguishable from the regular footage except the annoying "timecode."

SKIP IT.. a hell-to-the-naw.
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7/10
Slow start, but ultimately interesting and fun
deadgirlrising7 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Some couple tell Gillian that she would make a good murderer. She wants to make a film about her committing murder. She selects her friend's girlfriend to be the victim, which creeps him out and the friendship takes some time out. Sometime later she gets back together with this friend and she accidentally poisons him with a sesame seed bagel. From here it escalates hysterically. Is this just a movie she is making, or...? Not high budget, but not intended to be. I think it was a creative movie, certainly not the usual horror fare.
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1/10
I Blame Whoever Gave Her the Money
Sofaninja1 June 2021
This piece of nothing makes me sad and angry for all the many talented and creative young people out there struggling to find the money to finance their projects. Who gave her the money?

This is not funny, not engaging, not well-acted, and not well executed and definitely not clever. Just terrible and a true pain to watch. I don't even want to spend too many words about it because possibly it would fuel her ego. It is a stinky pretentious something by someone is thinking is outrageous and a genius...yeah, keep wishing Gillian.

PS: as someone mentioned, go and watch "Man Bites Dog" instead.
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7/10
I'm just realizing myself.
ntj-film20 February 2021
Antisocial killers that murder on camera surly isn't a new trope (Hi Michael powell' Peeping Tom)

Here we get a young perky millennial named Gillian (a very game Gillian Wallace Horvath who also co-wrote the script) doing the dastardly deed and the result is, quite frankly, a nifty little feature, as far as I'm concerned.

I just wanted to do a quick writeup to hopefully convince any doubters, due to it low accumulated rating (4.2) that this is actually a pretty enjoyable and stinging comedy (in a dark and depraved sort of way)

Hope you like it.
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2/10
"Wanabe art movie"
homerkaro15 March 2021
As i see all family members alreday rated the film wiht 8 nd 9. This what happens when the director thinks she has the capabilites to create something unique but ends up with another meaningless Z category movie for the youth.
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8/10
interesting idea, executed well
LetsReviewThat2622 April 2022
The fact that Gillian Wallace Horvat not only directed but also starred and wrote this movie is impressive in itself. Having it shot as if a real life documentary showing a filmmakers decline into madness was interesting and I liked the way it was done. The rest of the cast felt real as well and played the roles well. Its not a concept you see a lot in a horror, thriller film and I fell it can be shown in more films. Adding to this I found Gillian to be cute despite the whole serial killer thing. I look forword to seeing more of her work and acting talents in the future.
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7/10
Occasionally brilliant
jellopuke17 April 2022
This has moments that really, really work. Black, dark comedy with a biting, cynical edge. The construction works for the most part but a few of the actors are really bad, and there are a few moments where the "fiction" slips due to too much camera work. But overall, I thought it was a strong, black comedy, especially for a no-budget movie.
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1/10
Just bad
jessicartim20 August 2021
Bad movie about very unlikable character.

I really don't understand what purpose this movie have or what's the message in it.

If by any chance the main character is what suppose to be recognized as a "strong female character" these days then indeed I blame the society.

Nothing really new or creative or worth seeing.

Watch Man Bites Dog instead as other mentioned.
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1/10
Pathetic Self Indulgent Millennial Narcissism
canuckjock22 February 2021
This film speaks to the vapid morality of the Millennial generation. Same kids that were throwing beer bottles onto traffic in downtown Toronto. Enough Said.
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7/10
This film is a work of fiction
begob13 July 2021
A narcissist auteur goes full psycho to realize her ambition.

Retest of a tried idea, although I haven't seen it done from a female point of view before. This gets off to a ropey start, with a long scene that treads water with awkward performances, and then goes on to show us how annoying and unlikeable the protagonist is.

But wait! Once the change happens, I stopped thinking about the film and just got into the rhythm of the story as the protagonist became more likeable. There's plenty of clever satire on LA movie biz and relationships (with a David Lynch reference), but the sweetest irony is that the victims lead such detached lives that their patently fake suicide notes are convincing to those who knew them best - which turns out, hardly at all. The main killing goes surreal, with just the right tone. The end doubles down on the irony and satire, with a large dose of the American Psychos, leaving a pleasant sense of grimness.

The pacing was poor to begin with, but maybe the idea was to increase the sophistication of the production as the on-screen project picked up its own pace, with extra cameras and a winding dolly (overused gag), and more energy in the editing.

Performances were good. Music came on via too obvious orchestral stuff, but after that was good.

Overall: Fine addition to the honourable sub-genre of the 1st Person POV murder spree, but the early scenes needed more energy to carry the humour.
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1/10
Skippable
nixflixnpix23 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
First 30 minutes seems okay? Seems kinda funny. Then she half-accidentally, half-purposefully, 100% painfully and dumb-ly kills her friend. In a way that trashes the whole experience.

Just skip it. Spend 86 minutes staring at drywall instead.
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6/10
Half a good movie
paul2001sw-128 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed the first half of Gillian Horvat's black comedy 'I Blame Society', about a narcissistic wannabe film-maker who conceives her own desire to kill her enemeies as the perfect subject matter. The twist, which is not exactly hidden from us, is that the character's sense of what is appropriate may go beyond just talking about murder. The film's problem is that once she becomes an actual killer, what we're left with is almost camp, too far gone to continue to work as an effective satire of the me-generation. Had the story ended with first body it would have made a more coherent and satisfying film.
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1/10
Celebrating narcissim
chriseparent26 July 2021
Not just the character, but real crazy.

Worst movie I have ever seen.
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7/10
A movie Trump would make if he were creative...
TogosDad7 June 2021
If the purpose of a film is to get you to loathe the main character, then this is for you! Self-absorption is the name of the game here. Narcissism at its most venal and ridiculous. Still, though, it's pretty good.
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1/10
I don't know how to not make this sound bad
Franks_Rumham12 November 2023
I know how hard it is to try to get a movie made especially as a newcomer. I've acted in things I've also written and directed before but I would never put that out outside of YouTube. I know my acting is horrid so I just couldn't do it. However both the leads thought it was a good idea to act in this.....the entire movie I couldn't tell if she was acting bad on purpose for the satire of the movie or if she truly was this terrible. Same goes for her boyfriend in the film! I felt like the only good acting came from the guy who died first and that's pushing it! The idea was there but the acting obliterated the entire movie.
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8/10
Dark Satire
Pairic17 April 2022
I Blame Society: Filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat plays a crazed version of herself who gets fed up with scripts being rejected and studio double-dealing. She decides to use her skills to kil off all the hypocritical and annoying people she knows. Things get a bit Meta as she's making a faux-documentary about how good she would be as a serial killer. Some very dark scenes, you know this is black comedy and satire but it still cuts to the bone. Quite literally as she makes her murders look like suicide. She even dresses rooms as murder scenes as she breaks into homes. The chuckle may well die in your throats at times but this is well worth watching, Directed/Written by Gillian Wallace Horvat. 8/10.
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6/10
5.9/10. Watchable but not recommended
athanasiosze31 July 2023
Not bad, not good. Not so interesting, not boring. Anyone can guess where it goes during the first 5 minutes but it's still watchable and somewhat entertaining. I think the best quality of this movie is acting. The anti-heroine is convincing as it gets. Being simultaneously the writer and the director, it's obvious that she gaves her everything for this. This could be better if it had a twist at its ending, i expected something unpredictable to raise the bar. It got a bit of mundane during the final part.

In any case, this is a watchable dark comedy and any fan of this genre will find here a lot to like. I liked it more than i disliked it but i can't recommend it because there are far better movies to watch.
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1/10
I Blame Society's Parents
frukuk17 April 2022
OK boomers, this really is your fault.

Perhaps there is an idea here, underlying it all, but the actual end product is not something I felt I wanted to sit through.
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4/10
I Blame Society isn't for everyone; the annoying comedic content and characters may be off-putting. Nevertheless, there are some worthwhile aspects.
kevin_robbins4 February 2024
I recently watched I Blame Society (2020) on Shudder. The plot follows an aspiring director seeking her big break in the movie industry. Initially, she thinks faking her best friend's fiancée's death is the perfect idea, but it sparks a huge fight, causing her project to unravel. She decides the problem lies in the execution of the "faking" the death part.

Written, directed, and starring Gillian Wallace Horvat in her major motion picture debut, the film also features Chase Williamson (John Dies at the End), Olivia Kuan, Macon Blair (Green Room), and Keith Poulson (Mercury Planes).

The main character's annoying traits make it nearly impossible to enjoy the film. Truthfully, I didn't find any character likable, so each murder brought relative satisfaction. The film falls short due to poorly written and executed characters, missing the mark set by films like "May." While there are promising setups and kill scenes, the awkward sex scenes align with the film's comedic aspects. The humor, however, is dry and cheesy, lacking resonance for me. The conclusion of each subplot and the overall ending did bring some enjoyment, leaving me with mixed feelings about the film overall.

In conclusion, I Blame Society isn't for everyone; the annoying comedic content and characters may be off-putting. Nevertheless, there are some worthwhile aspects. I'd score this a 4/10 but recommend seeing it once.
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1/10
I tried, I really did
samthejudgeamos4 May 2022
But I gave up. It was so dull and Whitney that I managed about 20 minutes before turning it off. What a load of old tripe, save yourself a job and fine something else to watch.
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