Skinamarink (2022) review

A camera records various rooms and objects inside a home - the corners, ceiling lights, the carpet, flickering cartoons on television, toys and items that appear and then disappear - while two children, Kevin (Lucas Paul) and Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault), go looking for their missing father ... and then there's an ominous voice that emerges.  It's easy to see how Ball is trying to recapture the essence of childhood anxiety (and a fear of abandonment ... and concern for "what's under the bed") using experimental filmmaking techniques (fellow Canadian filmmaker Michael Snow's Wavelength is a clear influence) and although it seems like it's too often dawdling for time and more than a little belabored (his 2020 short film Heck was created in a similar fashion), part of me begrudgingly appreciates the singular effort made to unnerve the audience.  This kind of DIY indie project - which reportedly cost only $15,000 CAD - is the sort of thing we should be encouraging new directors to make ... and if you choose to watch it, be sure it's at night and you're already getting sleepy.  Sweet dreams, hoser.