Fisher

Bad things are happening in Eden, Tennessee during Halloween that involve murder, online deception and death threats.

Clara (Wright) is a teenager who uses catfishing to her advantage and what she does is pretend to be another person on social networking services and sends intimate pictures of women to various men online in exchange for gift cards. Things go well for her until her activities attract unwanted attention and end up putting her life in danger. As things turn more and more sinister, Clara finds herself being a victim of stalking and receives disturbing life-threatening messages involving dead animals and blood.

This psychological mystery horror film contains a variety of characters, including socially awkward Micah (Chastain), who has to deal with his abusive father and Jacob (Gardner), who along with his parents is deeply religious. There is a great deal of online socializing going on and characters are often seen interacting with their laptops. Since the events take place around Halloween, there are scary costumes to be seen. The plot explores the hazards of interacting with others through social media, particularly catfishing. Religion is also a significant part of the story and the unknown stalker appears to be strict when it comes to religion. The story and characters are interesting and there are nail-biting moments.

The movie begins rather sinister, with a brutal murder. After that, the atmosphere is more relaxed during the first half of this two-hour-long feature, mainly exploring the lives of the main characters and the pace is a bit slow. Things pick up during the second half, with the intense stalking and the emotional damage it causes to Clara. Generally, the film seems overlong and there are montages that include Micah cleaning and Clara carving pumpkins which come across as awkward and unnecessary.

As far as the acting goes, it gives the impression that it could had been better. Bell probably has the most interesting role, that being of a religious woman whose life is turned upside down after a discovery that causes her to develop a desire for revenge. She plays her part well and manages to make her character fragile and fierce.

There are numerous great establishing shots and composer Kevin Czaja makes a positive contribution with the dramatic and tense music.

Overall Fisher is not a bad film. The plot deals with a dangerous individual looking to harm someone and that is intriguing. It might require patience for a while, but eventually the narrative gets better and better and eventually grabs the viewer's attention.