Shelby Oaks
The story centers around Mia (Camille Sullivan), a woman obsessed with the disappearance of her sister, Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn), which occurred twelve years earlier. Riley was part of a small group of paranormal investigators, the "Paranormal Paranoids," who were investigating a supposed demonic entity linked to the legend of Shelby Oaks, a fictional yet unsettling ghost town in Ohio (director Stuckmann's preferred setting).
The group vanished, and while the bodies of the other members were found under brutal and inexplicable circumstances, Riley’s body was never recovered. The only clue consists of fragmented found footage videos recorded by the group, filled with terror and broken voices.
When Mia is contacted about a documentary on the case, the mystery resurfaces violently. The woman begins to follow increasingly dark clues, convinced that her sister is still alive and somehow trapped in the "lair of evil." The film gradually abandons the documentary format to follow Mia's obsessive investigation, which leads her to desolate and terrifying places like silent woods, abandoned churches, and a ruined amusement park, plunging her into a nightmare where the line between personal obsession and supernatural evil becomes increasingly thin.
Shelby Oaks is a horror film that blends elements of mockumentary, found footage, and traditional narrative to explore an unsolved mystery.
Chris Stuckmann's directorial debut is an ambitious work that attempts to navigate different genres. The film's strength undoubtedly lies in its atmosphere. Stuckmann beautifully exploits the ghost towns of Ohio to create a palpable sense of melancholy and terror—a forgotten America where childhood rots and the past rusts. The setting (abandoned prisons, ruined amusement parks) is extremely evocative and adds unease to every scene.
Camille Sullivan's performance as Mia is intense and carries the entire film, conveying the obsession and exhaustion of a woman who refuses to surrender to absence.
However, the film proves to be uneven. The beginning, with the use of mockumentary and found footage, is very promising and morbidly exploits our attraction to true crime and unsolved mysteries. Unfortunately, the shift to a more classical directorial style in the second half is considered by some critics too abrupt and less impactful, partly dispersing the initial terrifying potential. The plot, though unsettling, offers nothing groundbreaking, and the ending falls into somewhat predictable solutions.
Despite this flaw in narrative fluidity, Shelby Oaks manages to suggest horror rather than overtly display it, creating a visual experience that is at times elegant and disturbing. Thanks in part to Mike Flanagan's support, it is a film that is appreciated for its directorial courage and the effectiveness of its scare sequences, confirming Stuckmann as a voice to watch in the horror landscape.
