Found-footage movie making is responding to the proliferation of new digital recording devices. Alongside CCTV, one of the most common technologies now found in millions of homes is the motion-activated doorbell camera. New micro-budget indie thriller Tenebris is framed by the vista of a door-cam that records the events of a harrowing night-time murder.

Following his mother’s death, Travis returns to the home he grew up in. His unprocessed grief brings the house-clearing to a halt, and triggers a relapse in his fight against alcohol abuse. Reluctant to engage with his neighbours, Travis reconnects and reactivates the doorbell security cam on the property. Learning of the recent killing, Travis checks to see if his camera caught any footage of the attack. His findings awaken the fear that the killer might strike again.

Tenebris begins effectively, with the stop-start sequence of timestamped videos of the same mundane domestic scene building an atmosphere of unease through the simple act of repetition. The sight of a solitary hooded figure standing motionless before the house adds to the rising sense of menace. Unfortunately, the writer-director team of Miguel Jaime and Ricky Martinez then lose the courage of their convictions, ending their reliance on a fixed camera. Travis installs multiple CCTV cameras around the property, and the rest of the action flips between their footage in what’s a fumbled finale. The memorable Inside No. 9 episode Mulberry Close demonstrates the impact of relying on a single static viewpoint. With a runtime of just fifty minutes, Jaime and Martinez (who also star) should have kept that recognition in sharper focus.

TENEBRIS is available on the BLOODSTREAM streaming platform