Tom's Reviews

I, like I assume many others, came across this film by pure chance, or more accurately midnight IMDB searching. This is a weird, inspirational and often saddening ride through the life of one man, Stephen Groo. This documentary on Groo feels really niche, and yet resonates with me on a deep level. The Insufferable Groo is a complex look into the life of a narcissistic, yet incredibly passionate man who's whole life revolves around making movies. And honestly, I can sympathise. My great passion is to direct, and I've shot some bad films myself. His dedication to his movies, the main focus of this documentary, is incredible. He shoots close to 150 shots a day, working 18 hour days, pushing everyone on his crew to do their best and all for no money. This man is crazy, and the documentary shows it, but often in an entirely endearing, or, if not then, sympathetic way. When I was fifteen/sixteen I wanted to be Groo. Of course I didn't know he existed, but the idea of making 2

Context is everything when it comes to mockumentaries, and it's often something they seem to get fundamentally wrong. The Beyond is no exception; this boring, uninspired mockumentary prioritises special effects over an engaging narrative and seemingly only uses the mockumentary style to save money. I only love one thing more than a good sci-fi; a low budget one. There's something about the untapped potential in low budget sci-fi movies like Coherence and Circle . Sure their production value is low, but their narratives are often mind bending and intriguing, offering an enjoyable time. The Beyond , while trying to have an intriguing narrative, falls short due to its unimaginably slow pacing and uninteresting plot. The Beyond is about a mysterious "Void" that appears in space all of a sudden. It has claimed the life of one astronaut, and threatens (or so we believe) the lives of everyone else on earth. It is up to some brilliant scientists at Space Agency to figu