True Fiction (3/5) [Fantaspoa 2019]

True Fiction is a new indie horror thriller that just premiered at the Fantaspoa 2019 film festival in Brasil. It’s a slow-burner that ultimately delivers big time! Read more in our True Fiction review here.

True Fiction is a horror thriller with a deliciously gritty ending. The movie is a low-budget production and it just had its world premiere at the Fantaspoa 2019 film festival in Brasil.

The movie does start out a bit slow and I would even say that it’s too slow for my liking. However, and this is important, it really delivers once we get into the last act. I mean wow!

Read more about this new indie horror thriller in our review of True Fiction review below.

The slow burn of True Fiction

My only issue with True Fiction was the fact that I wanted to know the main character better. Or rather, I felt like I needed to know her more before getting into the actual main plot.

I get that it is actually a part of the plot that we don’t know too much about her, but it just would have helped me engage more with the story. That’s probably also why I love Korean movies so much; They might run long and be slow-burners, but much of the runtime tend to be used introducing characters in depth.

While we don’t get to know much about the characters at first, it does get a lot better as the story progresses. In all the right ways!

Sara Garcia is the breakout star!

The main character Avery Malone is played perfectly by Sara Garcia. At first, I felt like she was a bit on the boring side, but that’s all part of the ruse. Avery Malone is one hell of a badass once Sara Garcia really gets into it and shows us the many sides of this character.

If you watched Reign you might know Sara Garcia as Keira on that series. Also, she was in the war drama series X Company.

Basically, you should watch True Fiction to experience Sara Garcia evolve the character as Avery Malone. By the time we got to the final act, I was completely on board with both the plot and character. In fact, to me, the final act is at a big 4 out of 5 stars. The beginning was simply too slow and weak for me to keep this rating overall for the movie. 

Still, a good ending can lift the overall value so I would place it at 3½ stars (if we gave half stars). 

Watch True Fiction when you get the chance!

Braden Croft is the writer and director of True Fiction and this is only his third film. However, other than working as a director on his own projects, he was also First Assistant Director on What Keeps You Alive which I loved. 

You might also like: Our review of the brilliant little indie What Keeps You Alive here > 

Also, True Fiction is at least as bloody and violent towards the end as What Keeps You Alive was. Personally, I needed to know the main character better in order for the movie to resonate with me more. However, it’s one hell of a ride and the ending is wild!

Bottom-line: If you’re not crazy about slow-burner then you might suffer a bit at first, but it will all be worth it in the end. 

True Fiction premiered at Fantaspoa 2019 in Brasil on May 24, 2019. It will be out in the US in limited theaters and on VOD from February 21, 2020.

Details

Director: Braden Croft
Cast: Sara Garcia, John Cassini, genre icon Julian Richings, and Julian Black Antelope.

Plot

Avery Malone, a lonely wannabe writer, gets her big break when she’s hand-selected to assist her hero, reclusive author, Caleb Conrad. Whisked away to Caleb’s remote estate, Avery is given her one and only task: participate in a psychological experiment in fear that will serve as the basis for Caleb’s writing. Her stay soon turns dark when she finds herself the subject of Caleb’s all-too-real horror novel.