Review: SHELBY OAKS is a Deeply Emotional and Horrifying Mystery

I am a sucker for found footage, and though Shelby Oaks isn’t exactly that, it does incorporate the concept into its narrative in a way that is unique and satisfying. It’s a horror film that is told largely through a traditional narrative structure, but uses the disappearance of a group of content creators and the final footage that they shot to create the basis for a mystery that takes the audience through a crazy web of both real life and supernatural horrors.

Directed by Chris Stuckmann from a script that he co-wrote with Sam Liz, Shelby Oaks opens as a faux documentary telling the story of the disappearance of a cast of Youtube personalities. In the world of the film, the Paranormal Paranoids had found success in the early days of the platform through creating a show that explored various paranormal locales. One day, they went to film Shelby Oaks, Ohio, a ghost town that had been abandoned years before under mysterious circumstances. Some people said a curse, others said the land began failing, but nobody really knows for sure why the residents packed up and left. The crew of Paranormal Paranoids became a part of that mystery. They never returned home. 

Some weeks later, the bodies of three of the hosts were found in an isolated cabin in the woods, but Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn) remained missing. That is where our story begins. Her sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan), has never given up the search. Over the past twelve years, she has dealt with uncertainty, with dead ends, and with a police force that has simply given her sister up for dead. But Mia can’t move on until she uncovers the truth of what happened to Riley. 

The faux doc provides the backstory to the mystery, and concludes with a mysterious stranger appearing on Mia’s doorstep during an interview and shooting himself in the head. After that, we turn to a traditional narrative and focus on Mia as she tries to follow a new chain of evidence that may lead to her sister. Why was Riley not found at the cabin with the others? And what had happened to them? To uncover the answers, Mia has to go back through some of the footage from their final episode. She finds clues here and there – enough to keep her digging, but nothing solid enough to convince the people around her that she is on to anything solid. But she knows she is on to something. She knows that her decade-long journey is finally leading her to the truth, and every new piece of information that she uncovers is leading her closer to her sister.

The impact that Riley’s disappearance has had on Mia’s life is palpable. Though Riley has been missing for twelve years, it may as well have happened yesterday. There is a hole in Mia’s life that just can’t be filled, and she can’t seem to get past that moment in time. Her husband Robert (Brendan Sexton III) has tried to be supportive, but he has understandably become frustrated. Mia’s obsession is ongoing and there is no end in sight, and it has put a halt on any plans they had for themselves. 

It’s details like this that really anchor this story and give it some weight. We don’t just hear Mia say that Riley’s disappearance has impacted her and accept it as fact. We see the effect that it has had, and we see that impact rippling outward and understand just how buried she is in the grief and uncertainty. At one point, Robert says that he was hoping that she would be able to use the documentary as a means to finally put the past to rest, but it becomes clear that it is just the latest step in her decade-long journey for answers.

Stuckmann crafts an exciting mystery with this film. There are supernatural aspects, certainly, and some effectively creepy moments, but the question of what happened to Riley Brennan is the lynchpin that holds it all together. It is that question and Mia’s need to know the truth that keeps everything moving. And as she begins to collect the pieces, it’s not immediately clear just how they will all fall into place. This is an aspect that may divide audiences. The investigation gets a little murky in the middle and the direction it is taking is a bit unclear. It pulls together a lot of elements from Riley’s childhood, footage from her final day of filming, and some bits of folklore and history from the town of Shelby Oaks. It’s not immediately clear how a lot of these pieces fit together, which can make for an interesting mystery, but also has the potential for a frustrating viewing experience that asks for a lot of patience from the audience.

If you are willing to give it that patience, the film is really creepy and keeps you hooked until the end. It’s a story that really hinges on the unknown. The mystery of what happened to Riley and her friends, the backdrop of an abandoned ghost town, and the fact that Mia is stuck at the moment her sister disappeared all come together to create an atmosphere that is begging to be explored. It sort of lives in the space between Lake Mungo and The Ring – anchored by something emotional and pursuing a horrifying truth at the center of a ghostly mystery. 

Movie Score: 4/5