The Success of 2025’s New Found Footage Horror Movie ‘Livestream’
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Livestream, a 2025 release directed by Victor Soares, is a chilling addition to your horror movie collection. If you haven’t seen it yet, it follows Mia, who stays in a cabin. She chooses to stream the whole experience, but as night approaches, she soon finds that she’s not quite as safe as she thought she would be.
The Film’s Concept Works Very Well in the Digital Age
Livestreaming is a huge part of modern-day life. In this day and age, people stream everything—from live music shows to sports and even trips out to restaurants. The constant connection has helped to shape how we experience entertainment, while helping to connect people from all across the world.
Now, when a sports event is streamed, people from around the world can tune in to the live action, with some even supporting live chat. Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show, “Back to the Beginning,” also supported a live chat feature, with fans able to tune in and see stage rotations and bands setting up in real time, which fostered a real sense of community.
Even in other verticals, livestreaming is huge. Take online live bingo as an example, events start at 12pm and run until 11 at night, with live number draws and live audience participation making the experience more immersive. People can also tune in and tune out while fostering a new level of accessibility and engagement.
The fact that Livestream is leveraging the streaming format is not just a new way of filming a horror movie; it’s also tapping into a big cultural moment. The immediacy and intimacy that help to make livestreaming so appealing can easily be used to create unsettling experiences too, something that this movie does particularly well.
A Story Rooted in Reality
With Livestream, Soares wanted to craft a movie that was rooted in human fear, rather than using supernatural elements, which had been done before. As the livestream goes on, the characters begin to unravel, and we see scenes begin to grow more tense.
The cabin also becomes claustrophobic, with the camera rolling the entire time. Not only do we see the fractured relationships of the characters, but we also see escalating dread of how a weekend away turns into a fight to stay alive. Even though the movie obviously wasn’t filmed live, the fact that it is filmed as if it is streaming in real time helps to create a much more immersive experience, and it also feels like you are watching the events unfold.
What makes the movie even more engrossing is the fact that there aren’t any scene changes, or if there are, they aren’t noticeable and they don't disrupt the experience. This constantly rolling camera approach has helped to turn what would be a very simple movie into one that is breaking down barriers, while providing audiences with something that feels very real and relevant. As time goes on, it wouldn't be surprising to see more found-footage horror movies hit the market, especially given this movie’s success.
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