Artefacts (2007)

Artefacts: Directed by Giles Daoust, Emmanuel Jespers. With Cécile Boland, Max Digby, Jason Morell, Felix Scott. A young woman realizes her friends are being murdered by their own doubles. She and her boyfriend work to solve the mystery before becoming victims themselves.

“The movieu0026#39;s only an hour and fifteen minutes long, and a portion of thatu0026#39;s taken up by the end credits, so itu0026#39;s very short. The end credits mention something about a Belgian Tax Shelter, which may explain this movieu0026#39;s existence.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe DVD cover, incidentally, has nothing to do with the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt did actually hold my interest up to the u0026quot;ending.u0026quot; People are being killed by their doppelgangers, who appear accompanied by odd static. The police find metal u0026quot;artifactsu0026quot; in their bodies. Thereu0026#39;s an amusing web search at one point where the heroine searches for u0026quot;artefact in bodiesu0026quot; or something like that. That would bring up a lot more results than she gets, and she actually finds more or less what she was looking for.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut anyway, in the end the artefacts and the doppelgangers are not explained. Nor is the non-explanation satisfactory in any way. I might have given the movie a 6/10 or 7/10 if it sustained the interest with the ending, but the failure to have a resolution really damaged it for me.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe special feature indicates this was shot in 12 days for $100,000 with a cast of 10 and 20 locations. It sounded like they originally wanted the actors to work off the synopsis rather than use a script. For a movie on a limited budget with a limited shooting schedule, thatu0026#39;s a real mistake. The dialogue and acting in the film is actually fine, itu0026#39;s the plot where the film falls flat at the end, with no wrapup. Iu0026#39;m not really sure where the $100,000 went. Maybe just towards paying the cast and crew? They do blow up a car….u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe special feature does offer a very little additional information about two of the characters that one could not possibly get from the film. However, the director either really did not have an explanation, or plays coy. Supposedly, budgetary restrictions kept them from offering a real ending. Theyu0026#39;re open to the possibility of a sequel or a remake. Iu0026#39;m doubtful whether theyu0026#39;ll get that opportunity.”