"The result is a relatable, disarmingly slow-build film that gradually picks up in tension and pace to a shocking climax"

New film The Kaos Brief, written and directed by JP Mandarino (known as “JP”), is a nerve-racking account of contact with the unknown which had its European Premier as part of the Sci-Fi London film festival.

Four teenagers - budding vlogger Skylar (Drew Lipson, Murder Among Friends), his twin sister Dakota (Charlie Morgan, Alongside Night) and their boyfriends Corey (Marco DelVecchio, Crazy Lake, Snapped: Killer Couples) and Tren (Akanimo Eyo, Isle of the Dead) - blithely head out on a camping trip that quickly turns from disconcerting to terrifying.

Returning home, the four believe they’ve left the weird happenings in the woods, only to find that the unearthly has followed them and their troubles have only just begun.

As a film making technique, found footage suffers from some obvious restrictions. The idea of the found footage concept is to make a film seem more real with it’s immediate, reportage feel. However, one of the constant criticisms of the genre is: who keeps filming when faced with some extra-terrestrial or supernatural horror? Most people would just drop the camera and RUN.

That’s not so true today. In an age where everyone carries a camera in their pocket and is obsessed with recording every moment of their lives, it seems much more reasonable that characters would continue filming, even under duress. So, making the movie’s main protagonist, Skylar, a newbie vloger who is determined to increase his followers by recording every moment of his life is a stroke of genius.

The extensive use of social media and vlogging in the film not only sets it apart from the alien-encounter genre, but makes it easily identifiable to a modern audience.

The result is a relatable, disarmingly slow-build film that gradually picks up in tension and pace to a shocking climax.