The Unearthing, directed, produced, edited, and flat-out hustled by Tristan James Jensen, is a coming-of-age, supernatural discovery film done on a shoestring budget that surprised a lot of filmgoers at this year’s Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Film Festival. The movie stars local actors Riley Yearly, Angelina Masciopinto, and Kaleb Miller. It was filmed on location in Stillwater, Minnesota. You can watch the trailer here.

While no points for degree of difficulty are given for the film’s next-to-no budget, Jensen delivers a compelling and engaging narrative built on a young adult plot. One hour could be an eternity for most student films, but The Unearthing uses its time efficiently, and the tightly written plot moves along nicely. There are some issues with editing and framing, but the film is technically impressive given the limited post-production. The young actors deliver unpolished yet convincing performances, and the film overall holds up technically, despite its two-man student crew.

While the performances of all the young actors are noteworthy, I was most impressed with Angelina Macsiopinto, who steals almost every scene she is in and gives an energetic performance as Charlotte. Jensen does a good job of keeping the story within its environment, not reaching for anything too epic for the scope of the production.

The Unearthing has already received a lot of good ratings and awards, including the Best Student Film award at Fort Myers Beach Film Festival, and an aggregate rating of 7.9/10 by IMDb.

Although Jensen made this as a student, I think it’s a very strong start, and people should keep an eye out for this promising young filmmaker.

The Unearthing is available on Amazon Digital and Indieflix.com. Follow The Unearthing Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheUnearthingMovie

Jason A. Hill is the Founder, Owner of Movies I Didn’t Get.com. He is a film critic and writer of articles and film reviews covering a variety of genres and film news that have been syndicated to many sites in the film blogosphere. He specializes in independent film in the US and Asia.

For more information please contact Jason at JasonAHill@MoviesIDidn’tGet.com.