Snapshot

Snapshot (2026) is a horror feature film that premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It is also an official selection for this year’s FrightFest film festival. The film is set in Whitechapel in 1988, where an inventor uses his moving image machine to document the lives of women in an all-female ghost hunting group amidst the Jack the Ripper murders. The group believes the murders to be the work of a supernatural being, not a sadistic man.

 

The women in the ghost hunting group also work together at the brothel. Nervous about their safety and desperate for answers, they investigate the murders within the group, hosting a séance that goes wrong and causes character Minnie (played by writer Cathy Wippell) to be possessed.

 

The whole film is shown through the pinhole camera of the protagonist, Tamworth, who is experimenting with his moving image machine. The story is told purely through one man’s footage, yet the story focuses on the women and the downfall of their group. The found footage horror creates a new spinoff to the Jack the Ripper case, commenting on society at the time and the struggles of the women in the area. Mental health issues, prostitution, grief, fear, and even crime are all segments that the filmmakers have shed light on with this story.

 

This film was extremely engaging; even with footage being viewed in a circle, the performances were powerful and very convincing. The costumes, hair and makeup, set design, and script felt historically accurate. Audiences can appreciate the beautiful visual identity of the film, which says a lot considering you only see a small fraction of it due to the pinhole element. The wide array of characters and locations has the capacity to hold the audience's attention well. Even with its quick shots and large cast, the film still allows viewers to connect deeply with the main characters, such as the friendship of Minnie and Fanny. This heightens the emotional investments of viewers, continuing to keep them hooked.

The horror genre was greatly utilised, with eerie shots, jump scares and meticulous sound work proving to be effective. I found the end section to be particularly frightening. The quick visuals of women screaming were edited in a repetitive form, and it was haunting. This technique was utilised throughout, sections of the film bookended by fast-cutting creepy montages. This ensured the film always had a shock feature throughout, allowing for further audience captivation.

 

To conclude, this film was uncanny, whilst successfully turning a well-known true crime story into one that evolves around women as they grieve the loss of their friends and fight for survival. I appreciated the aesthetics of the pinhole camera and thought this was a unique touch.