‘LANDLOCKED’ PROVES THAT SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE IN HORROR [CFF 2022]

Modern Horrors
by Jeremy Burgess

Paul Owens’ narrative feature debut has a couple things going for it in particular.

The first thing is what Paul did. Which is to say, he maximized his available resource to an impressive degree. As you watch the film, you’ll notice that it’s all pretty centrally located in and around a mostly empty house, and as the credits roll, you’ll notice that almost everyone in the cast shares Owens’ name. Paul and his two brothers—Mason, the protagonist, and Seth, another supporting player—are the three central characters, and their father, Jeffrey, makes appearances as well.

But Paul proves that family isn’t just a casting resource in this case: It’s an aesthetic one as well. That’s because the primary visual conceit in Landlocked is real Owens family home movies.

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