When Seth receives a mysterious letter inviting him to spend the weekend at a secluded mansion in the country, he soon realizes the people inside the house may know him better than he knows himself.

As the film opens, we find a young man driving through the woods, making his way to a secluded house. After looking over a letter, he wastes no time making himself feel at home in this seemingly empty home. Through a slightly awkward introduction, we learn that Seth (Adam Weppler) received a letter from the homeowner and long lost brother Richard (Nicholas Tucci). During dinner, they’re joined by Abby (Catherine Corcoran) who is the girlfriend to Richard. As the meal progresses, Richard starts showing erratic behavior while also having personal information about Seth. The weekend continues as the buddying relationship already begins to stretch and stain under random aggressive outbursts from Richard and mixed signals from Abby. It becomes more apparent that this isn’t the family reunion Seth had in mind as the film reaches its final act.

One thing you’ll notice right out of the gate is the actors slip into their roles effortlessly. Adam Weppler (Groove, The Cobblestone Corridor) finds the balance of dorky charm and ignorance for Seth. Catherine Corcoran (Terrifier, Caeser and Otto’s Paranormal Halloween) makes Abby feel naturally torn between the two brothers while having something of her own personality. As for Nicholas Tucci (Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear, The Ranger), he brings the right amount of “rich guy with too much money” without going overboard. The rest of the cast, as few as there were, does well with the material. There really wasn’t a weak point with casting.

While Long Lost can get high marks for the acting, the same can’t be said for the rest of the film. The biggest problem is the movie is that it’s just downright boring. The first sixty minutes or so is build up and ground work but besides some confrontations and awkward interaction, nothing really happens. You’re left asking yourself what the whole point of the film even is. Is it a character drama? A thriller? Is there some danger to someone? Once the final act kicks in, it does so at high speed. It’s like the filmmakers got so wrapped up in building the character that they forgot that they had to end it.

The Director, Erik Bloomquist (Ghost Tour, Midnight Brew), does well this the cast and scenes. His past experience is the director’s chair was for shorts and TV shows. It shows that he came from a more short-form approach as the pacing seems to suffer in the hands of someone not used to longer runtimes.

Long Lost is an odd beast of a film. It was boring but I felt compelled to continue watching thanks to the performances of the leads. It was well shot but poorly paced. And finally, there was the ending, which I won’t spoil here. To say it came out of nowhere would be an understatement. It felt unearned and completely random. There was no lead-up or pay off. It seemed to be the ending that was chosen from a list of possible endings printed on a wheel and spun around. Ultimately, Long Lost feels like it should have stayed lost for longer than it was.