Fantastic Fest 2025: ‘Shelby Oaks’ is a Worthy Misfire
Our Fantastic Fest 2025 coverage continues with Shelby Oaks. When it comes to the topic of film criticism, it’s hard to identify anyone who has made more of an influence on my career than Chris Stuckmann. He remains one of the rare YouTube movie critics who can articulate constructive feedback with class and sincerity for the art form. Being put in the position of having to critique one of my heroes, it’s not an easy table to sit at. Nevertheless, Shelby Oaks has been one of my most anticipated movies for the past year. And while there are admirable things about the movie, it would be unfair to throw away honesty because I have so much admiration for somebody.
Shelby Oaks is a success story because Chris Stuckmann was able to bring his vision to life with the support of all his followers. And the more money they could raise, the more they were able to shoot, utilizing various locations, such as the prison featured in The Shawshank Redemption.
The main issue with the film is that the viewer can feel the constantly evolving production. It’s not a bad movie, but rather one that feels overly prepared, like a chef who overthinks the meal and keeps adding ingredients to their detriment.
What is Shelby Oaks about?
The film has two distinct narrative styles. The first one is a false documentary setup in the vein of Lake Mungo, where the viewer feels like they are watching a Netflix documentary about a ghost hunter named Riley (Sarah Durn) who mysteriously disappeared.
The second is when the movie transitions to the standard cinematic narrative form, following Riley’s sister Mia (Camille Sullivan) as she tries to find her missing sister. The film explains that Riley and her YouTube team, called the Paranormal Paranoids, went missing after visiting the ghost town of Shelby Oaks. And the movie creepily shows the last footage before she eventually disappeared.
Following the initial setup, a tragic event unfolds on Mia’s doorstep, revealing more information about her sister’s whereabouts. The clues begin to reopen a traumatic event from their past involving an entity that would haunt them as children. The result causes Mia to question whether this supernatural force has any connection to the events surrounding her sister, or if Mia has become so obsessed that she is losing her own sense of reality.
Unpacking the foundation of Chris Stuckmann’s first movie
The parts that mostly work in Shelby Oaks stem from atmosphere and tension. Throughout the first part of the film, Stuckmann employs numerous clever techniques to create the terror surrounding Mia. There are subtle signatures that are incorporated, such as a reflection within a TV, reminiscent of Ringu.
The influence of Lake Mungo is extremely heavy in the first section, utilizing similar visual and audio cues to amplify the eeriness of the analog footage. For example, in one section, we see Riley in a state of fear as noises are coming from beyond a bedroom door. And as she opens the door, she enters the dark environments beyond our vision, making our imaginations run wild about what happened to her.
The main thing about the choice of using Lake Mungo as an influence is the key to that film: it’s not just what you discover, it’s also everything withheld. The absence of detail in the spiritual realm lights the imagination on fire as the fake documentary explores the story further. With Shelby Oaks, we are only in this balance for about 20 minutes before the film changes from a fake documentary to an actual movie.
Once we enter the film portion of the story, there’s no restraint on showing more than required. We see the demonic force and what it looks like, and we are provided with answers to almost everything. By putting all the cards on the table, the terrifying things that we imagine are taken away. There are some clever bits, such as the cracking of windows when the threat is around. But for the most part, some viewers might feel robbed by what they could have imagined.
Additionally, the transition from the mock documentary format to the narrative feature format feels somewhat jarring. For this reason, it feels like two different films in one movie. And because they were able to achieve a change in what they could pull off, the movie has an experience that makes it feel like they decided to incorporate everything. My reaction is not suggesting this happened behind the scenes; it is merely how it feels.
The main character is also difficult to connect with. We know very little about Mia, except that she has an urgent desire to find Riley. It’s still unclear how this could be fixed, except perhaps by removing the documentary-style intro and giving more room for the audience to get to know Mia before we jump into the search.
It’s not an issue with the performance because Camille Sullivan is great. It mainly stems from the writing and our limited time spent with Mia before the movie begins. She also makes several questionable (and possibly unrealistic) decisions as a character throughout the film. For example, right after explaining to her husband that something from her past is haunting them again, Mia runs off in the middle of the night to investigate a prison in complete darkness by herself.
Shelby Oaks is proof of potential
The one thing that does work in Shelby Oaks is the direction. For a first-time director tackling a full-length feature, this is not a bad start by any means. There are some missteps here, but the first movie is the perfect time to make every mistake. For example, Shelby Oaks is nowhere near as terrible as Piranha 2, and many people forget that James Cameron directed that sequel.
While Shelby Oaks as a whole did not work for me, there are plenty of reasons to be excited for Chris Stuckmann’s career. It’s a worthy misfire for a first-time filmmaker. Hopefully, Stuckmann will take his long career as a film critic to heart and use all the valid and sincere feedback to make one of his best films yet. There’s still room to grow, and that is a good thing.
Also check out: Fantastic Fest 2025: Primate is a Slick, Animalistic, Horror Throwback
