"Dagr" (2024)

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s found footage thriller, Dagr by Matthew Butler-Hart and Fizz and Ginger Films.

Synopsis

Fame seeking YouTubers Thea (Ellie Duckles) and Louise (Riz Moritz) find themselves in a paranormal nightmare when the advert team they are stealing from awakens a murderous occultist from the past.

The Good

Joseph: Director Butler-Hart, working from a screenplay that he cowrote with Tori Butler-Hart and Graham Butler, manages to do the near-impossible in Dagr: make social influencers protagonists about whom viewers actually care. This is rare in recent horror movies, as social influencers are usually low-hanging fruit regarding characters we can’t wait to see get offed. Of course, the performances from Duckles and Moritz are also responsible for bringing their characters to life in an ultimately likable way, and they are as realistic in their depictions of egotism as they are in appearing scared. The performances from the other cast members — especially Tori Butler-Hart as commercial director Tori and Emma King as commercial actress Emma — are also commendable. Playing terrified in a gripping, realistic enough manner to get the audience behind you is no easy feat, but these actors do fine work in that department.

Dagr was shot mostly on iPhones, and potential viewers concerned about motion sickness or not being able to tell what is going on because of shaky-cam work need not worry too much, as most of the film is shot rather steadily when compared with other found-footage movies.

The build-up of the first act is solid, as viewers get to know the characters well before the mayhem sets in. There’s also a tonal shift from some comical moments in that first act to when matters soon become darker and creepier.

Mike: Regular readers of GBV may have noticed that I enjoy found footage films and Dagr is certainly one of the more well put together FF films I’ve seen in a while. The world building is efficient in that some brief on-screen text explains why the footage we’re seeing isn’t just some shots from iPhones and digital cameras and is instead edited in a loose traditional three act structure. A lot of FF movies neglect to explain this (even the most tenuous explanation is better than nothing at all), which makes it hard to get overly involved in the story because it’s too hard to get INTO it to begin with.

Acting is also important of course, and it’s important for the actors to find the right line to straddle between acting too hard and not hard enough - something everyone does well here. Duckles and Moritz - as social media stars Thea and Louise - have good chemistry and are believable in their roles.

While it can generally be hidden by the cameras, effects aren’t quite as important as they are in a traditionally filmed story, but Dagr uses an effective technique to portray the supernatural aspect of the antagonist.

The Bad

Joseph: I would have liked to have seen a bit more backstory regarding the supernatural entity. Also, a couple of homage shots to classic found-footage scare fare features are a bit on the nose.

Mike: This one is a bit hard for me to handle. On one hand (as mentioned), I’m a fan of the found footage style of filmmaking as I feel that it lends itself well to a low budget and, with good editing, can provide a certain air of realism that heightens the scares. On the other hand, I don’t care for folk horror (take Wicker Man and Midsommer, please) and with that as the central focus of the bugaboo that befalls our protagonists my interest was quick to flag. Couple this with ultimately unlikable characters (the ‘influencers’ were spoiled brats and the commercial film crew all seemed a bit pretentious), and there wasn’t a lot for someone like me to enjoy about Dagr.

The Verdict

Joseph: I love folk horror, and Dagr combines that subgenre with found footage, resulting in a gripping feature that I found to work marvelously. Well-paced direction and admirable performances raise it far above most found footage fare. Highly recommended for viewers who are aficionados of either or both of those subgenres.

Mike: While quite effective and well put together, Dagr ultimately didn’t do much for me as I found the “folk horror” aspect a bit out of my wheelhouse insofar as what horror subgenres I gravitate towards. And while the acting was above average and everyone was believable in their roles, I found it hard to find anyone to really root for which made this a bit of a slog for me. The tl;dr of Dagr is that it’s not a bad movie, it’s just not a good movie for me.