MovieChat Forums > The Beyond (2018) Discussion > If a Mockumentary is a comedy then is th...

If a Mockumentary is a comedy then is this a Docsposition?

posted 6 years ago by Mangled (22)
2 replies | jump to latest

Saw it and really didn't enjoy the documentary style.

Having everything explained in voice over and talking heads as its happening totally goes against the "show don't tell" style of story telling.

Intelligent sci-fi? No, it just feels like it's treating the audience like idiots by spoon feeding every last detail.

The entire film is exposition and I found it rather dull and it was impossible for me to connect with any of the characters, particularly the one guy it really tries to get you to care about.

In fact the film tries to convince that they're not characters but "real" people yet still fails at that.

A much better example of the documentary element in story telling, and in particular sci-fi, is District 9. That managed to get a documentary feel nicely combined with a more traditional dramatic way of story telling.

Oh and by the way documentary/exposition - docsposition.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I guess so.

[–] brux (14666) 3 years ago

Definitely, the problem with this movie was the style. OK, use that documentary newsflash global happenings device until you catch up to the story, but then it just kept going and it really gave us no character to care about or who grew, or had a character arc. The arc of the Human 2.0 was pretty much of a dead end.

However, I did think it was semi-clever to have the alien network covering the Earth be a means for defending and saving the planet. Still it was hard to watch and like reading the business page.