Found Wandering Lost (2022) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
7 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
Pleasantly surprised and moved
onthewatchlist1 March 2022
Not sure if the other reviews here are sponsored reviews, but I'll offer mine as an honest take.

I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of this movie. It started out a little slow, but things picked up after Trent and Ben met. I was honestly moved by the final act and closing scene. I thought the acting was excellent, especially Staab's.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Don't hesitate to read, I put a warning before any spoilers
reubenholcomb27 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
As someone whose tired of Hollywood garbage, I decided to check this one out after reading the reviews here and decided it appropriate now to leave my own (before I forget) Overall, I have to give an A for effort given the budget, as others have pointed out. The camera work is reasonably good and the characters are realistic. I don't know if it was just me but somehow only the very beginning seemed just a bit cheesy, at least compared to the rest of the film but that feeling pretty much ended after the first scene, so maybe I was just adjusting. Everything after that seemed to be executed greatly (at first) until the climax which was unfortunately a big disappointment. Call me old-fashioned but if I'm dissatisfied with an ending then it pretty much ruins the whole film for me. This time around though, it was equally frustrating as it was confusing, causing me to backtrack events that happened earlier on and critically analyze them and I realized that a few of them didn't make much sense. Basically if my take on endings sounds like yours, or if you're easily depressed, you may wanna seek out another indie film. Now this is the part where I start dissecting those scenes I mentioned earlier so be warned.

***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Okay, so the very unlikelihood of Ben being totally oblivious to the shootings was so frustrating it was almost agonizing. I mean the one hitman actually shoots his gun at the sky immediately after getting out of the car without even closing the door if memory serves me right. Ben seriously didn't hear that?! Then multiple more gunshots and screams afterwards and the only the lead antagonist returns to the car, unaccompanied by anyone else, and Ben STILL doesn't even seem the least bit suspicious? Did I miss something?

So let's back up then to the first scene where the two hitmen are first introduced. The thinner, lower-level one puts heavy emphasis on the importance of burrowing the body of the victim, which makes sense of course. This becomes contradictory when they shot the maintenance guy dead and just leave his body on the side of the road. Next they capture the girlfriend and she seriously doesn't even make a peep the whole time? I guess I could forgive that had it not been for Ben suddenly becoming deaf, dumb, and blind while the excruciatingly obvious killings took place. To top it off, the remaining assassin doesn't even attempt to hide the bodies. Kudos to Nicholaus James for drawing me into the characters enough to care and I get the deeper meaning that was trying to be conveyed but it was overshadowed by dissatisfaction. Great potential though.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
A slow boring film
I don't know what film, some of the other reviewers watched. Maybe they had a stake in this 24k film. Its ponderously slow. The confusing editing did not help at all. There is no start or ending to the story. If they actually spent half of the 24k budget I would be surprised.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Don´t judge a book by his cover. Nicholaus James just proved this. WOW!
frank-liesenborgs26 January 2022
"Found wandering lost" is set deep within the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas. Trent (Kyle Dyck) involves his girlfriend Allison (Jennifer Seward) into the mess he created himself. Trent is desperately on the run from contract killers Henry (Brian Paulette) and Tim (Davis DeRock). Along the way Trent stumbles upon Ben (Jeffrey Staab), a wandering drifter who now calls these roads "home". Two amazing things to start with. The first one being the fact that this movie was realized with a budget of only USD 24k. The second and most important fact is Nicholaus James. He is a first-time director here, responsible for the writing, the story, the screenplay, the editing while also being the executive producer and director of photography. He is also an actor in this movie (the truck driver who stops when Ben is hitchhiking). And he managed to pull this off with a budget of USD 24.000! Getting these facts straight, now you can judge this movie. I just loved the dialogues between Henry and Tim. In fact all the dialogues were well written and executed. The sound effects and visual effects are amazing (keep in mind the budget!). On top of that the cinematography was astonishing and the drone shots were well edited. And also filming with a Gopro and a panasonic gh4 camera on top of the other amazing facts? I cannot wrap my head around this. The acting performance of Kyle Dyck (Trent) was good and exceptional performances of Jeffrey Staab (Ben), Brian Paulette (Henry) and Davis DeRock (Tim). The movie is not fast paced but I loved the plot and storyline. I hope we will get to see more of Nicholaus James very soon! Do not skip this one, watch it and judge yourself.
7 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Wonderful Performances and Direction
sjpowell-7588629 January 2022
Nicholas James' directorial debut does not disappoint! The picture, sound, music, and special effects were all magnificent and James gets wonderful performances out of all of his actors. Found Wandering Lost tells a compelling and entertaining story with a powerful ending that sticks with you several days after watching it. The highlight of the film for me was the performances of the contract killers played by Brian Paulette and Davis DeRock. The chemistry the two actors have is irresistibly watchable. If you at all have an admiration for films like No Country for Old Men or Pulp Fiction, I highly recommend checking out Found Wandering Lost.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Found: A very Good Film
xnyrnkc2 February 2022
Having not heard of this film until recently, and knowing that it was a local production, and an independent film, my interest was piqued. First time director. Nick James, who also wrote the script, directs a stellar cast of love lost and those on the run in the Foothills of Kansas. The cinematography, soundtrack, acting and directing were all top notch. Bravo to the cast and crew for putting out a film on a shoestring budget, which looks as professional as if it were filmed by a big studio on a large budget. Expect great things from Nick James.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Superbly crafted
jazzstyle22 January 2023
As others have said, huge congratulations for producing a quality film on a small budget. Like the dialogue a lot, intelligence behind it, nuances where the less said shows more meaning. Like the cinemaphotography. Sound, really good. Thank you actors for no mumbling, slurring, or swallowing the last halves of your sentences. Great foreshadowing, both action and theme lines, in the first meeting at the indoor sky diving, then the repeat of the physical move later. Loved the tie in with a nickname which jumped out at me like a flea-bit scorpion when it was first said. Great ending. Some reviewers mentioned the slower pace, which I think is appropriate for the theme of this film. These are only a few of the quality details I spotted; I could probably find more on subsequent viewings.

At the very beginning, if you're paying attention, you can guess immediately it's going to be Ben's story, and what it is. A bit later into the film, Ben's story unfolds, and the opening is confirmed. Now I understand what I should feel about him and why. I can connect with Ben. That isn't the case with another main character, Trent. Some may think he's a protagonist; he is not. To me, Trent is a symbol, a McGuffin in a sense, that ultimately leads to the expected ending we so want, and get. We don't have to know anything about Trent, the mysterious "it", another McGuffin, he may have or why the baddies want "it" so much. For me, Trent is a well written deceit. If you know your theatre and literature, and watch this film with attention to detail, you'll see how all the elements end with each of the characters having a reasonable ending based on their own character traits and actions, with a small circumstance of Fate thrown in because, after all, Fate is often a role in drama. I, too, as others have said, will keep watch for more from Nicholas James and James Thomas. I love good scripts, and, to me, this one is superbly crafted.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed