THE BUILDOUT (Zeshaan Younus 2025)

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JENNA KANNEL, HANNAH ALLINE IN THE BUILDOUT

ZESHAAN YOUNUS: THE BUILDOUT (2025)

A scary-mystical desert journey explores a delicate friendship and loss

Ken Hughes in The Hollywood News says that in 2023 a film called The Outwaters "dominated independent horror," proving with its "found-footage, psychedelic nightmare" that you don't need a dark and dank place to scare people; the bright desert could be made just as terrifying. TheOutwaters, Hughes says, "kickstarted a trend" of desert-set scary movies, illustrated by The Seeding and now The Buildout. Coming late to the party, I'm now about to review The Buildout.

In The Buildout features two young women in the desert, Dylan Anderson (Hannah Alline), who is bleach-blond and devout, and speaks of "The clergy" and of the desert as a magnificent gift from God, and Campbell (Jenna Kanell), who has black close-cropped hair and swears. Campbell is the skeptic. They are chlldhood friends, and share the mutual loss of someone. The two women ride around in the desert on dirt bikes dressed in outfits like space suits with big helmets on. Campbell never seems to approve, but Dylan leads the way. Eventually they come to small hillocks or bushes in front of which is a tent with maps and charts carefully laidout inside. Campbell balks at the tent and says "I'm not going in there," but she does. All the time Campbell films everything with a handheld video camera. We see a lot as "found footage," but also omniscient shots of the pair from afar and of the desert with a better camera.

Dusk comes, and they stop. Dylan talks into Campbell's camera and says, "My name is Dylan Anderson, and today I admit to breaking the rules. I brought an outsider into our new home. And for that I have betrayed your trust..." Then she declares that now they must go deeper into the desert in order to get out. "The Clergy" is a cult she has joined to deal with her loss. Campbell, in anger, declares that even as a child she was warned not to associate with her and now she sees why.

The press kit informs the uninformed like myself that this is a paranormal film "set in the inhospitable California desert of the Borrego Triangle (known for numerous UFO sightings and paranormal activities)."

The desert is a powerful and beautiful setting. It's ready made material for a low budget film. You don't need a budget: you've got the magnificent vastness of space and sky, and good lighting. But it's also rather overwhelming. It may not be easy to make it spooky or haunting, but that is only hinted at, not striven for, here. The desert neutralizes, it bleaches out. Cinematographer Justin Moore deals with that effectively by spending a lot of screen time on closeups of Kannel and Alline. The film calls attention to the photographic process with Campbell, who always has her own small video camera in hand, filming everywhere the two women go. Sometimes zooms show us spiders or other insects.

Kyle Logan of Screen Anarchy best explains what is going on here: this is not a horror movie, though it does hint constantly at the supernatural and use photography of the desert to do so. It is a "meditatation on grief and friendship," and the two actresses have great "friend chemistry" (and indeed they do) that makes both the closeness and the smart of old conflicts feel fresh and believable. When night falls in the desert, the film reaches its most magical and even spiritual moments. Besides those involved in the camera work, score composer Jack Bartman and sound designer William Sammonsdeserve special credit for the quiet, mystical spell of this little film. This well-acted, slowly developing piece marks a promimsing debut for director Zeshaan Younus and all his dedicated crew.

There is an enjoyable and instructive piece by Zeshaan and producer Trevor Dillan about the making of the film for Film Independent. They capture the challenge and sense of adventure in undertaking a first film in such a tough environment, where everything is covered with dust and there are high winds, sudden storms, and blistering daytime temperatures. Their description reminded me of being forced to work on Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "Running Fence" in order to have permission to be with other runners on the site, and feeling the excitement and camaraderie of the younger crew members.

The Buildout, 70 mins., was an Official Selection at Chattanooga Film Festival, Panic Fest, and SoHo Horror Film Festival. It is being released on all VOD platforms in the U.S. Feb. 25, 2025.