TETHERED has a run time of an hour and 28 minutes. Directed by Daniel Robinette TETHERED, is based on a story that was taken from a 2017 short film of the same name. Thanks to our friends at Gravitas Ventures for providing the screener. Jared Laufree plays Solomon, a blind teen left to his own by his parents in a house in the woods. If that already sounds weird to you, it just gets weirder. Here’s my movie review of TETHERED.
THOUGHTS
First off my initial thoughts on the film were, “nah that looks scary”. I don’t normally like to watch scary movies so I wasn’t sure about TETHERED. But without spoiling it for you, it’s not as scary as I thought it was going to be. “Don’t lose the rope” is something you’ll hear over and over during the film and being that Solomon is blind, you understand why the rope is so vital to his survival, but I also found it to be very kitschy too.
The rope is one of the things that made the situation so much more less believable for me, stay with me. If I used a rope to keep myself within a certain parameter when I found the rope, I would put the rope on around my waist by slipping it over my head first. Solomon stepped into the rope. He’s blind remember? I realize how trivial this might seem, but if you want me to believe he’s blind and can’t see, he’s going to slip the rope over his head and not step into it. This is coming from someone who has to practice jump roping.
And another thing that bothered me was, once Solomon is alone, he has to continue to eat and feed himself. Who is replenishing his canned goods? and getting him clothes? The film starts off with him as a young boy with his mother and then later in the film, his mother leaves and he is left wearing overalls and hiking boots. What happens when that child grows out of those items? Is he just going to keep wearing those clothes until they are shreds on him? It was just too much for my ADHD to overcome. I had too many questions. I’m not going to go further on my questions because I don’t want to ruin it for you.
REVIEW
The film was shot in the woods of North Carolina, it reminded me of similar woodsy areas I’ve been at in East Texas. That being said, the woods are dark and that totally came across in the cinematography. I feel that with Solomon (Laufree) being blind, this was the way to bring the audience into his world. I watched the film on my computer, but I can imagine that seeing it on a larger screen or theater will be better for the viewer.
Solomon is blind, and he spend a lot of time alone in the film so there is a lot of silence. In some films the other things in the shots can help those moments, but unfortunately in this film it just hinders the film even more. There are a lot of unanswered questions that even in the end aren’t answered and I’m not quite sure why. Some times in films you think that there’s a more creative reason and maybe you just aren’t at the level to understand and that could be the issue with this film.
The film has very few actors, the main actor being Laufree as Solomon. His mom played by Alexandra Paul is small, but you hear her voice throughout the film in a recording she leaves for him, (Back to my thoughts, here- those batteries are going to run out eventually!!) and serves as a source of comfort in the uncertainty that he is living. Kareem Ferguson joins the cast as lost hunter, Hank. Hank unfortunately adds to the detrimental dialogue and acting. It’s very hard to watch at some points and I’d love to know what he made for himself and Solomon out of the deer he had just shot. I grew up hunting and eating deer meat, so I was super interested in that soup/stew he made.
Overall it just didn’t do anything for me. I wanted and hoped it would be like a Blair Witch Project and maybe that’s what the writers/directors and producers intended, but it totally fell short and I became unTETHERED to the film.
OKAY FOR KIDS
No, absolutely not. The film is currently NOT RATED, but even so I’m not going to recommend young children see this film. I would say 15+ if they are interested. It was such a dark film that it reminded me of THE RING, and that’s not a film I’d want my kids watching. Okay, maybe the oldest could at 15, but still.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
Release date:
Tethered will be released in North America by Gravitas Ventures on Friday, March 18th 2022.
Cast and characters:
Alexandra Paul … Nidia
Kareem Ferguson … Hank
Jared Laufree … Solomon
Brody Bett … Young Solomon
Chris Demm … Father Lucas
