Directed by Max Tzannes, “Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project” (2025) is a mockumentary that follows an amateur filmmaker’s journey to make a found-footage horror film about Bigfoot. The genre, by definition, is about blurring the lines between fiction and reality. It allows the audience to enter a world within a world and to scrutinize the nature of everything they see on the screen. Within that narrative, Tzannes introduces found footage horror, another genre known for a similar effect. It relies on our suspension of disbelief and impacts only when we believe in its facade. Whether it’s “The Blair Witch Project” or any of its successors, these films depend on making us believe in their facade — that it is ‘discovered’ footage, not a designed one.
Tzannes utilizes their interconnectedness in his mockumentary that starts on a note eerily similar to Chris Smith’s “American Movie.” Smith’s 1999 documentary followed Mark Borchardt on a similar journey as an amateur but passionate filmmaker, skilled enough to get a team to trust his creative vision. Chase (Brennan Keel Cook), the protagonist in Tzannes’s film, is also passionate about making his first feature film. However, he is far from prepared, whether creatively or technically. Unlike Borchardt, he isn’t necessarily driven by creating something groundbreaking. He just wants to get famous as a filmmaker who cares, whether he does or doesn’t have the smarts to back it all up.
Even then, Chase will feel relatable to any budding filmmaker trying to get a foot in the door. Tzannes and David San Miguel’s script portrays him as a pretentious goof who doesn’t understand nearly as much as he claims to. He is self-important, either because he is arrogant or because he deems being self-important necessary to lead a team. The film uses his cluelessness, unpreparedness, and incompetence to carve out most of the drama about a film shoot destined to be a trainwreck. It all gets worse because the crew never questions or confronts his poor decisions. They are mostly present just as caretakers for this man-child, who may not be cut out for his job after all.
There is plenty to relate to in their journey of wanting to make something out of nothing and get a project off the ground. The script shows everyone’s innocent aspirations as they embark on a quest to make a project by any means possible. No matter what problem you face, they think of another way to approach the process. Yet, with a shoestring budget, there is only so much you can do. So, they make some sacrifices to ensure their time or resources do not go to waste. For anyone who has even a cursory understanding of filmmaking, it will all seem obvious.
Tzannes’s mockumentary doesn’t have anything new to say about the process or the team dynamics themselves. Instead, it uses our existing knowledge of the predictable chaos to bring out its quirky humor. Most of it works because of its cast, mainly Erika Vetter, Dean Cameron, and Chen Tang. As Natalie, Vetter becomes the dramatic glue that holds the film together. She is the highlight of this chaotic ride that documents a film production that can derail at any given minute. Throughout the shoot, Natalie has to bear the burden of being Chase’s girlfriend and his assistant director while struggling to have an identity of her own.
Vetter has a comedic energy similar to Megan Stalter in HBO’s “Hacks,” and she balances it seamlessly with the subtle moments required in the moments that highlight Natalie’s anguish. Similarly, Cameron is amazing as financier Frank, who becomes Chase’s surrogate parent along the way. Overall, the mockumentary works best when it introduces similar drama borne out of their interpersonal dynamics. It operates similarly to workplace comedies like “The Office,” which blends their cringeworthy humor with heightened tension. However, the film struggles to maintain the same momentum when it ventures into being a horror comedy or unpacking the connections between its inherent narrative forms.
Although effective, the genre mashup doesn’t take the film to any new heights. Instead, it abandons much of what it made so special. The film could have worked better with a deliberate focus on being just an out-and-out comedy. Instead, it introduces the horror elements but doesn’t develop them nearly enough. The script tries to speak about the nature of found footage films, the shock value in their overall appeal, and the thin line between the reel and the real, especially since it revolves around something like the Bigfoot footage that people have had endless debates about. However, it struggles to make any larger point and ends up being mainly an amusing ride.
