Freeze Frame review

Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Big Brother has a lot to answer for - - not least this initially intriguing but soon-becomes-farcical reality-TV thriller.

Lee Evans plays Sean Veil, a onetime murder suspect so terrified of being framed again that he films every second of his life. The next time the cops come knocking, he reasons, he'll have a cast-iron alibi. Until, of course, they do come knocking, whereupon Sean finds that a crucial block of videotape has gone walkabout...

Jumping nimbly between DV, CCTV and Super-8, John Simpson's feature debut evokes a sense of sneaking paranoia and icy dread that taps into contemporary fears over intrusive state surveillance. Unfortunately, Freeze Frame is pretty much scuppered by Evans' limited dramatic capabilities. Shorn of both hair and eyebrows and equipped with a risible self-recording Steadicam, the hyperactive comic is so freakish, so bizarre, as to be virtually unwatchable.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.