Stephane is another found footage buddy movie with some odd turns and hints of horror. It’s like Creep, though more restrained. An aspiring filmmaker meets a man who seems to lie about everything and has fits of strange behavior. Yet, this movie edges the line without ever going over it. Often, its restraint works against it.

Written and directed by Timothée Hochet and Lucas Pastor, the French film stars the two as Tim and Stephan. I suppose there’s a meta aspect here since Hochet plays a filmmaker and his writing/directing partner plays the other star. So, this is a movie within a movie, using found footage. Tim initially plans to film a short influenced by American action and spy movies that he loves. While filming downtown, he meets Stephan, who claims to have worked in film. From there, the two decide to make a movie together, set during WWII. However, fascinated by Stephan, Tim decides to make a documentary about him, but without telling him.

This movie is really a two-man show, and its most entertaining sequences come during Stephan’s uncanny behavior. He shows flashes of anger. He also claims that he wants to shoot a man with a shotgun in his vehicle, before laughing about it and claiming it was all an act. It’s difficult to tell what’s real and what isn’t, but as the movie progresses, the conflict deepens as the men fail to see eye to eye about their movie. Oh, and not only is Stephan a liar, but he may be a murderer, too. Little is revealed about his past.

As I’ve said, we’ve sort of seen this concept before with Creep, which has much better performances, thanks namely to Mark Duplass’ chilling role as Josef.  He’s more sinister and imposing. Stephan’s lies and outbursts leave more questions than answers. For instance, he keeps a woman hostage in his home and forces her to act in the movie, though it’s unclear how she ended up with him. Yet, for all of the little oddities and strange narratives, the movie feels safe. I wanted Stephan to lose it even more. I wanted the power struggle to feel like the stakes are truly great, but this movie never reaches that point. I had hoped for more genuine scares and unnerving moments instead of so many questions.

The ending leads to fireworks and danger, literally, but it feels like a slog getting to that point, even if the movie is under 90 minutes. It feels much, much longer than it should, and there’s not enough creepy behavior by Stephan to make this found footage foray all that entertaining. Still, if found footage is your thing, then give Stephan a try. Just accept the fact it really doesn’t do anything different. We’ve seen this footage before.

5 Out of 10