-Todd- prolonging

title - prolonging
director - unknown
writer - unknown
starring - seven debuting actors

an interesting film, with an even more interesting story behind it. apparently, it was submitted anonymously to an amateur film festival, where it was accidentally screened in front of several hundred people. the film has become an internet phenomenon since its release, mostly due to the fact that it's existence is almost controversial, mostly due to being filmed by 'shaky cam' and having no credited creators.

the film has seven main characters.

spencer, or Servus, the drunken leader, who, although being inebriated for about half the film [it is very possible, judging from the performance, that the actor himself was drunk], is able to hold the team together and the group of almost-strangers from killing each other.

amanda, or Dignus est Agnus, provides the stereotypical moody, detached one of the group, and even has a pet crow [stereotypically named poe] to boot.

doc, or Medicus, is [obviously] the team medic, who is somewhat in over her head when it comes to some of the gruesome injuries she has to deal with in the course of the film.

steele, or Leo, is the spaced-out druggie in the film, who had become a fan favorite for his long, somewhat philosophical rants he makes [curiously, while his mouth does not move, its widely agreed upon they are inner monologues, except some people do not agree cause no other characters have these moments].

todd, or Volpes, the token minority, is the character with the most inner conflict that is shown on screen, being that occasionally he loses all control of himself and goes violently insane, despite the fact he is quite gentle while lucid.

august, or Magna, is the ambiguously gendered one of the group. most believe august is a man because of the somewhat blooming relationship between him and sam, but others believe august is a girl because of a scene in which she wears a dress, and actually wears it beautifully.

sam, or Nomen Dei, is who most people cite as the main character of the film, being that she is the newest member to the team, and most relatable character for the audience. although, from the beginning she is very disoriented, but eventually gets better.

the film mostly deals with an antagonist the characters refer to as 'the slender man', a supposedly faceless business man who stands at six feet tall and haunts people, although is almost never actually shown, leading the audience to believe [for most of the film, anyway] that 'the slender man' is a group hallucination.

the greatest part of the movie by far is the interactions between the characters. with some of the most realistic dialogue in a hollywood film ever, tricking you for a while that these may very well be real people. it also stays mainly away from the hollywood cliche of killing of single characters at a time, keeping them all alive [mostly]. it also stays away from needless romance plot threads, as even though there are relationships, they mostly stay off to the sidelines as real horror commences.

the film's title is most likely quoted from graffiti which can be seen in the background of one scene, reading '' live life'', and right underneath it reading ''YOU ARE MERELY PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE.'', summing up the main theme of the movie, that there is no avoiding death.

reviews for this movie are mixed, but nearly everyone has a similar reaction to the final shot of the film: the tall, faceless business man, standing above the dead bodies of the seven protagonists, with visual distortion, and a crack in the picture, leading some to guess that the final shot is actually in a mirror, and that the entire movie has been from the point of view from the slender man. some people believe that a music box can be heard in the background.

another odd thing is that the film has no credits. it just ends cold.