Psychological Horror Documentary Makes You Question The Afterlife, Stream Without Netflix

Though Lake Mungo and The Poughkeepsie Tapes both fall into the same pseudo-documentary wheelhouse, there’s really no other comparison I can make aside from the fact that they both occupy the same genre.

I can’t really say one film is better than the other by virtue of sharing the same narrative vehicle alone because Lake Mungo is a much more contemplative film that centers on grief rather than the unhinged whodunit documentary premise that The Poughkeepsie Tapes has to offer.

Lake Mungo is an unsettling story that explores loss, grief, guilt, and the supernatural. When Alice Palmer (Talia Zucker) unexpectedly drowns during a family outing, the Palmer family doesn’t know how to cope with the reality of Alice’s passing. Russell Palmer (David Pledger), the family patriarch, identifies Alice’s body when she’s recovered.

Alice’s brother, Matthew (Martin Sharpe), becomes obsessed with photography after his sister’s death, and starts to notice that she’s appearing in the pictures he’s taking around the house.

With Matthew’s help, the Palmer family sets up a number of cameras in their house to see if they can document more footage of Alice, who had been acting strange and withdrawn since going on a school trip to Lake Mungo before her death.

Meanwhile, Alice’s mother, June (Rosie Traynor), has a consult with a psychic named Ray (Steve Jodrell), who prides himself in helping his clients find the closure they so desperately need.

What sets Lake Mungo apart from other found footage horror films is its lack of scares. This is not meant to be a scary movie, but rather a deep exploration of how a sudden death in the family changes everything.

As the Palmer family tries to make sense of the events leading up to Alice’s death, as well as how their home feels haunted by her ghostly presence, they place their faith in Ray, who seems to know more about Alice than he’s letting on while he coaches them through their grief.

Lake Mungo is a slow-burn supernatural tale that will still make you look over your shoulder when you’re alone because of how effectively it messes with your perspective through the eyes of a grieving family.

Whether Alice’s ghost is trying to tell her family something or not is irrelevant because they’re so desperate for answers that they’re going to find them if they look hard enough.

While there’s no clear antagonist in this movie, the sense of unease I felt while watching it mirrored what I could only imagine the family felt while coming to terms with the loss of somebody whose presence is sorely missed.

Like any other pseudo-documentary film using the found footage filming method, Lake Mungo’s casting choices are superb, allowing the viewer to suspend disbelief because of its inherent lack of star power.

What’s more, the script for this movie was simply an outline, and the principal cast improvised a healthy amount of their exchanges. Lake Mungo has an air of authenticity that’s difficult to capture because writer-director Joel Anderson tasked himself with finding unknown actors who were also talented enough to convincingly portray the Palmer family, and he did an excellent job on this front.

REVIEW SCORE

Lake Mungo won’t make you paranoid like The Poughkeepsie Tapes, but will definitely make for an uncomfortable viewing experience given its subject matter. If your goal is to feel moved by a profound sense of sadness that’s hard to put into words, then Lake Mungo comes with strong recommendations, and you can stream it on Tubi right now.