I recently rented Lanier (2023) for $4.99 on Prime. The story follows a detective vacationing with his family at Lake Lanier. After a mysterious drowning occurs, and further research uncovers a long history of unexplained deaths, the detective goes undercover to investigate. What he discovers may be more than he bargained for...
The film is co-written and co-directed by William Eric Bush-Anderson and Cindy Estenfanie Kunz-Anderson, marking both of their directorial debuts. The cast includes Riley Madison Fuller (Space Pups), Shekeb Sekander (I Love a Mama's Boy), Mara Flanagan (Grounded), and Ali Ashtigo (1969).
This is one of those films that had a lot of potential but completely dropped the ball. The acting is inconsistent, the inner monologue is poorly executed, and the kills are reduced to cutaway scenes. The horror elements missed the mark entirely. While the film tried to build its horror premise around the real-life history of Lake Lanier, the backstory alone wasn't enough to carry the movie. It needed more tension, kills, and gore to really make an impact. The acting during the film's big conclusion was supposed to be impactful, but it fell flat.
In conclusion, Lanier is a mess with a promising premise but no follow-through. I'd give this a 1/10 and recommend skipping it.
