If you’re in the market for a super low budget feat of filmmaking then Threshold could be just the ticket for you. Arriving onto the Arrow player from Monday 3rd May, the film fully embraces the essence of guerrilla filmmaking and proves that if you really want to make a movie, you can. Shot on two iPhones during a twelve-day road trip with a crew of just three, Threshold is startling proof of just how far technology has progressed, and what can be produced with limited resources.
The bones of the story are that Virginia (Madison West) is in a very dark place. In dire need of help, she reaches out to her estranged brother Leo (Joey Millin), whom she hasn’t seen for years. When Leo finds Virginia, he thinks that she’s simply on yet another drug-induced spiral and wants to take her to rehab. Virginia however, reveals a much more sinister reason for her plight – she has been cursed by some strangers she initially thought were trying to help her. Leo remains unconvinced, but agrees to take her cross-country as she tries to track down those that she believes are responsible for her ‘hex’. As the roads grow long, the siblings begin to reconnect, but there’s a deadly force pursuing the pair; one that threatens to destroy them from the inside.
In keeping with the freeform spirit of the production, co-directors Powell Robinson and Patrick Robert Young opt to keep the traditional screenplay to a minimum. Rather than enforce the rigidity of pre-written words, Joey Millin and Madison West were allowed to improvise most of their scripts themselves. Through being allowed the space to create the words for their on-screen counterparts, Millin and West create characters who feel like genuine living and breathing people. Their validity is integral to the working of the piece as so much hinges on their performances and interactions. Their exchanges are carefully thought through and put together and really do create that sense of reconnecting with someone that has become a stranger to you. So much of what they say is heavily veiled with things unsaid and yet the viewer is never lost, always understanding exactly where Leo and Virginia are in their journey of rediscovery of one another. It’s very clever work from all involved and Threshold works at its very best as an intimate construction of the ties that bind.
Complementing the exchanges are a series of well-framed shots, and it’s incredible to think that they were generated on nothing more than a phone screen. Mobile technology certainly has come on leaps and bounds from the days of brick phones and Snake, and it’s brilliant to see filmmakers adopting it in inventive ways. As with most of the filming, the visuals have been captured on the fly, the team seemingly stumbling upon most of their locations. This organic formation works to breathe life into the film and presents a lot of off the beaten path locales that will have been overlooked by many before. These interesting and unique places help to hide its meagre budget, and when mixed in with the bassy, synth heavy score, there are all the ingredients to a well made and clever little indie.
In terms of tone, there’s a great feeling of tension that slowly bubbles away alongside the pulsing score. Even when there’s nothing in the realm of scary happening, Robinson and Young somehow manage to create the sensation that there is something to be wary of. This slow build pays off during later moments; one within a holiday home is so intense that you’ll scarcely breathe. The second is during the climatic moments. Threshold takes a long time getting to this moment, but when it arrives, it really lets loose and assaults the audience with some rather nightmarish images.
Micro-filmmaking pushed to the maximum, Threshold is a marvel to behold. Canny and inventive filmmaking that proves you don’t need much to create something unique. Another in Arrow’s recent line-up of debut features from interesting voices, Threshold proves that all you really need to make a movie is sheer heart and determination.
Threshold will release on Arrow in the UK, US and Canada on 3rd May 2021.
Threshold
Summary
A slow-burning ghostly road movie that places family trauma at its heart, Threshold is a true testament to the power of filmmaking.
