I’ve wanted to see Lake Mungo for awhile. When I first heard about this found footage style film, I was immediately intrigued. And honestly, it’s not so much found footage. It’s put together like a documentary, and there’s no real shaky cam.

And it’s by turns haunting, surprising, and with a hefty emotional impact.

In a story full of twists and reveals, loss and the supernatural are explored.

Alice (Talia Zucker) drowns in a lake. Her parents and brother are grief stricken, and attempt to come to terms with her death. June (Rosie Traynor) is having nightmares of her daughter, her son Matthew (Martin Sharpe) starts a photography project, and her husband, Russell (David Pledger) is just trying to hold things together.

When her body is recovered, the family may not be able to move on, because according to the pictures and film that Matthew is shooting, there is someone else in the house with them.

From there, the film takes a number of turns. In fact, there were a number of surprising twists that I did not see coming, and that kept me off balance as I got swept up in the narrative. The film is genuinely heartbreaking, and unnerving. It’s well orchestrated, and the film is incredibly cost-effective, and best of all, it works.

The film doesn’t talk down to the audience. It expects you to pay attention and follow along, and as images are discovered, and reveals made, you can’t help but be caught up in it.

Anderson, who also wrote the script, grounds the film in as much reality as he can, with news footage, and honest portrayals of loss, you fall into the narrative, and can’t help but roll with the punches when they start coming.

I won’t give away any of the twists, but each one stunned me, and elevated the story. It made it feel all the more real, because there were all these things happening, people’s lives intersecting, and life (and death) happening all around.

I found this one to be an exemplary ‘found footage’ film. And I was entertained from the get-go. I was worried that with all I had heard about it over the years, that it wouldn’t live up to them during the viewing. I’m happy to report it did.

That being said, my expectations weren’t so high because of the subgenre it’s in, found footage, but damn. This one works so well.

It’s emotional, spooky, and powerful.