The Waiting Game

Kyle Weingart’s The Waiting Game is a found-footage thriller about a man’s survival during an alien occupation. With a video camera in hand, documentarian David (Kyle Weingart) sets up camp in his mobile home in an isolated section of the forest during winter. At best, David is an amateur filmmaker and survivalist as his film techniques and survival skills are pretty basic.

He is documenting his entire experience, including collecting snow for water and cutting logs for firewood. David also needs to fill a gaping hole in one of the corners of the RV. Let’s also not forget we see an extended shot of an alien mothership in the far-off distance. At night, it’s lights out for our protagonist, as we hear rustling outside and a light that shines through his window. Are the aliens on patrol?

“…a found-footage thriller about a man’s survival during an alien occupation.”

The day-to-day isolation might be taking its toll on our hero. At one point, David is visited by Lev (Jared Broxterman), who lives in the forest. While at first, the two appear friendly, they engage in an antagonistic relationship, Lev seems to know more about the situation than he says. While wandering the woods, David runs into a pregnant Anna (Zuzu Weingart), and David feels protective of her. Lev, on the other hand, doesn’t believe she’s real.

I mentioned before that The Waiting Game is writer/director Weingart’s take on the found-footage thriller with a sci-fi edge. About 90% of the movie comes from David’s video footage, and then there are more cinematic settings. Overall, the narrative calls into question David’s mental state and plays around with what’s real and fake from his perspective. For spoiler’s sake, I don’t want to dig any deeper into this question.

I do like how Weingart plays with David’s mind in this hybrid found-footage style of storytelling. He keeps the film at a lean 60-minute runtime and adds an ominous soundtrack to enhance the suspense. And thusly, we have a decent thriller on our hands. The Waiting Game is very much a DIY, low-budget independent movie, which means it lacks some sophistication in the quality of the final product. But it more than makes up for it with strong atmosphere and an intriguing plot.