August Underground

Right now you can watch August Underground in the US on Fawesome — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. 119 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Fred Vogel leads a cast that never overplays its hand. Available now on Fawesome — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

August Underground is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. August Underground trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. Imagine walking down the street and finding an unmarked VHS tape. Curiosity piqued, you take it home and pop it in. What starts off as two men screwing around with a video camera quickly transforms into an ultra-realistic torture sequence where the unidentified psychopaths tape their exploits as they torment and violate a woman tied to a chair. Fred Vogel and Kyle Dealman lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2001. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, August Underground delivers. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Fred Vogel is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.