Review: ‘The Despair’

‘The Despair’ is an independent drama written and directed by Mike Crawford. The film can also be considered a psychological horror, pitting the addicts against their addictions, struggling to survive their the dangers of their habits. The film was shot for an extremely low budget of $30,000 but what it lacks in expensive production values it makes up for with an authentically honest script, quality acting and Crawford’s ability to create an engaging film that draws on the strengths of docudrama filmmaking combined with suspense and a true interest in and concern for the characters that develops during the journey we share with them.

The story follows two drug addicts, Sean (Nicholas Wilder) and Cliff, played by Josh Davidson (Perkins 14), along with five other addicts who decide to leave their rehab facility to go stay out in the woods in Cliff’s uncle’s cabin. Sean appears genuinely interested in making a recovery, but is confused and the influence had on him by Cliff does not push him in the right direction. At first, the group is content with hanging out and just having a relaxing and sober good time at the cabin, but as tensions build and anxiety begins to set in, the group begins to fall apart and each of them must make a decision, continue to let their addiction control and ultimately ruin their lives or to clean up and give themselves a chance to actually live happy, healthy lives.

Similar to the magnetic draw that occurs while watching Larry Clark’s ‘Kids’ but with a higher degree of effectiveness, ‘The Despair’ relies on the documentary feel of the film to pull us into the story and listen to what the characters have to say and how they interact. Our interest develops from opposite sides of the spectrum. On one hand, we are drawn to the excitement of the self-destructive nature of this group of addicts, while on the other hand we want to see them overcome their weaknesses and make positive changes in their lives.

The story of the group’s trip to the cabin is inter-cut with scenes of solitary character reflection and scenes of Sean during his psychiatric sessions that dive deeper into the underlying issues that drive him to his addiction. Throughout the movie, music plays a significant role. ‘The Despair’ has a perfectly descriptive soundtrack featuring a play list of great songs, depressing, emotionally draining and moody. The songs do not monopolize the film however, as the sound design is equally effective and fills the gaps between the songs with textural landscapes of ethereal audio.

One of my favorite scenes is in part three, just before the group goes exploring in a large, abandoned building in shambles. Crawford creates a visual montage of the group in various stages of being high. The scene is visually appealing, dark and ominous, but most of the credit for the scene’s success goes to Crawford’s creative and powerful use of traditional Tuvan throat-singing. The deep, gravely voices submerge the viewer into a dark but strangely alluring frame of mind to accompany the images on screen.

‘The Despair’ isn’t perfect. The film could use some additional editing and, while the cinematography is often effective, the handheld appeal loses it’s luster at times when it becomes a bit more like a sensory igniting MTV-style experimentation. There’s a fine line between effective use and over-use of techniques such as jump cuts and zoom shots.

Aside from this, I really found little to complain about with ‘The Despair’. However, I will say the ending is not one to take home to meet your mother… but, that’s not a bad thing. Mike Crawford clearly has an eye for drama based in reality and the talent of a promising writer, forcing me to consider what he might be capable of producing on a bigger budget. For the time being, ‘The Despair’ is available free to view on YouTube in nine parts.

Check out ‘The Despair‘ and feel free to leave comments regarding your reactions to the movie on this review. Also, check out the film’s Official Blog and MySpace Page.

[Overall: 3.5 stars out of 5]