We live in the age of streaming. There is no doubt about it. There are fantastic films that we have only seen on our television screen without first going to the cinema (something that was unthinkable not long ago), and distributors are increasingly choosing not to take risks and sell productions directly to the media in question without spending a euro on making copies and distributing them. In times of crisis, going to the big screen is seen as an unnecessary risk… Or perhaps, if played well, is the only way to be seen?
Chances are that the names of Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf don’t ring a bell for you at all. And that’s despite the fact that, in just over a decade, together or separately, they have produced around twenty projects – the vast majority of them short films – with mixed results. In other words: after going through crappy festivals, they have uploaded them to the Internet for free to the passivity of everyone. Nothing we don’t know: if you don’t have a fan base or the support of a major, who is going to be interested in your little amateur project?
However, something has changed with their latest film, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this’, which some of us were able to see, for example, at the Sitges Festival and whose hook to catch the public is a gimmick as simple as it is surprising: the film will never be uploaded to the Internet, and the only way to see it is by going to a movie theater. Neither streaming, nor buying, nor renting, nor free downloading: if you couldn’t see it when it was being screened, bad luck. And indeed, their argument makes sense, as they told Variety.
The film itself doesn’t have much mystery: it’s a found footage of a haunted house with the fun (and honest) twist that the protagonists play themselves with their real lives. For example, before starting they explain the stormy love life of Nick and Rachel, and their relationship with Christian, their friend who comes and goes throughout the film. The ending is quite creepy and has some very successful moments of “cheap horror”, but until you get there, it must be said, there are many scenes that lead nowhere. Well, of course, if you manage to see it at a festival, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to get international distribution.
The reviews, especially on the always incisive Letterboxd, are not the best, but the public’s interest has grown after the revelation of their commercial trick, so after several screenings made by themselves, they have managed to have it shown in ten cities in the United States… And they are managing to sell all the tickets! What does that mean? That a whole world opens up before them.
They are already preparing two new films (one of them a slasher called ‘Scary New Year’) and are more excited than ever to continue filming. Meanwhile, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this’ will continue to be shown anywhere that shows interest in doing so. After all, with this business model they can continue to exploit their film for years and years, moving it around rural areas of America.
CREDITS:
Director: Alejandro Bernal
Text: Max Hackenbroich
