LIFE OF BELLE (2024) Review!

Filmed in a documentary style at first, LIFE OF BELLE documents the tragic weeks leading up to the disappearance of 8-year old Belle (Syrenne Robinson) who went missing after her mother (Sarah Mae Robinson) goes off of her meds and begins attacking her children when their father goes away on a business trip. The police release the security cam footage in hopes to find clues as to what happened to little Belle.

Are the actors successfully acting like they aren’t acting?
Yes. Sarah Mae Robinson does a fantastic job of playing a woman in the throes of a manic episode. Robinson seems to have done her homework and plays a person slowly coming apart at the seams. This descent into madness is only made more clear by the tragic performances of her two children, Belle and Link (played by Zachary Robinson) who also give authentic performances of fearful children trying to survive with their increasingly unstable mother.

Does the footage found seem authentic and untouched by additional production (which means there is no omniscient editor making multiple edits between cameras or an invisible orchestra providing music)?
While the first few minutes of LIFE OF BELLE are produced in a documentary style, the rest of the film consists of security cameras set up around the entire house and it all feels extremely real.

Why don’t they just drop the camera and get the hell out of there?
The cameras stay on because they are a security fixture in the house and the mother is too batshit crazy to turn them off. The kids are kids so they forget the cameras are there as well because they have their bathshit crazy mother to worry about.

Is there an up-nose BLAIR WITCH confessional or a REC-drag away from the camera?
There are a few times Belle pleads to the camera for help. These are similar to the BLAIR WITCH shot, but because it is a kid doing it, the whole thing is much more resonant and tragic.

Does anything actually happen? Is the lead in too long and the payoff too short?
The lead in is long. Very long. While the film does a great job of depicting mental illness, but the slow decline of the mother’s faculties is extremely slow. So there are scenes of the kids brushing their teeth and playing with their toys. As with real life, the illness strikes very slowly and then all at once. I can appreciate the authenticity of this depiction, but it doesn’t make for an interesting watch until around the 35-40 minute point, which is a monotonous time to sit through.

Does the film add anything to the subgenre and is it worth watching?
Once the craze-balls start rolling this movie really hits hard. It just takes forever to get there. I was really invested in the plight of these poor kids who have to watch their mother’s sanity disintegrate in front of their eyes. LIFE OF BELLE is a hard watch because of how real it feels and how young these kids are going through all of this. It takes its sweet old time to get to the horror, but once it arrives, it’s potent and scary.