Movie Review: Tribe

Tribe Movie Review by Matt Boiselle

Tribe – written and directed by Dan Asma, and starring Keaton Asma, Justina Biosah & Tyona Bowman

Synopsis: A desperate man lost in the west coast mountains has to reconstruct his past in order to step back from the edge of insanity.

There was a time when the found-footage genre felt unpredictable — when every shaky camera movement and distorted audio cue carried some genuine tension. Unfortunately, “Tribe” feels less like a reinvention of that formula and more like another entry assembled from the same worn-out toolbox. Director Dan Asma clearly wants to build a psychological descent into madness against the isolation of the west coast wilderness, but the end result is a film that spends far too much time wandering in circles without ever giving viewers much reason to stay invested. The story follows a desperate man attempting to piece together his fractured memories while stranded in the mountains, but “Tribe” quickly falls into the same repetitive rhythm that has plagued found-footage horror for years: endless shots of people stumbling through trees, heavy breathing into microphones, frantic yelling, and vague hints that something terrible may or may not be lurking nearby. After a while, the film starts to feel less suspenseful and more exhausting.
To its credit, the natural setting does create a few striking visuals. The forests and mountainous terrain give the movie an isolated, almost dreamlike atmosphere at times, and there are moments where the sound design briefly suggests the kind of cosmic or psychological horror the film wants to explore. But those moments are few and far between. Most of the runtime is padded with repetitive wandering, fragmented conversations, and extended sequences that mistake confusion for tension. What hurts “Tribe” most is how familiar it all feels. The “unreliable protagonist losing grip on reality” angle has been done countless times in found footage, and the film never really finds a fresh perspective or memorable hook to separate itself from the pile. Even the sci-fi elements feel frustratingly underdeveloped, teased just enough to create mild curiosity before being buried beneath more aimless footage and drawn-out paranoia.

By the time the film reaches its conclusion, there’s less of a sense of dread and more of a feeling of relief that it’s finally over. Horror fans who still have patience for the found-footage format may find a few things to appreciate in the atmosphere, but for anyone already burned out on the genre’s clichés, “Tribe” is likely to feel like another tedious trek through very familiar territory.

The film will be available on UK digital on May 25th from GrimmVision