Bryan Loves You | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Seth Landau |
Produced by | Seth Landau |
Written by | Seth Landau |
Starring | Seth Landau, George Wendt, Tiffany Shepis, Daniel Roebuck and Tony Todd |
Music by | P. Daniel Newman |
Cinematography | Jayson Crothers |
Edited by | Greg Robbins |
Distributed by | Anchor Bay |
Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $25,000 |
Bryan Loves You is a 2008 horror film directed by Seth Landau. The film relates the supposed true story of the Cult of the Bryans who took over a small Arizona town in 1993. It was shot in 17 days with a budget of $25,000.
The plot revolves around a 32-year-old psychotherapist as he begins to suspect that the local religious cult has been murdering the town's citizens. He soon becomes sucked into a web of mysterious happenings, with the cult of the 'Bryans' being the focal point. The film uses the 'found footage' format, and claims that the film is a compilation of security footage.
Critical reception for the film has been mixed to negative, with Dread Central criticizing the film's lack of realism, saying "Watching “found footage” shouldn’t have the viewer asking questions like, “Why is everyone acting so overly evil?” " About.com's Mark Harris negatively reviewed the film, stating that "Bryan is mostly made up of drawn-out moments of inconsequential activity loosely tied together by a scenario that never delivers."
JoBlo.com reviewed the film positively, giving it three-and-half "Arrows in the Head", and writing that despite the film's resemblance to previous horror works such as Clockwork Orange, the movie "still feels fresh and inventive". BlogCritics.org also reviewed the film, stating "spotty acting" and "a clumsy action sequence" as two of the film's weak spots but praising the Landau's versatility. MovieWeb called the film "a masterfully creepy ride through religious fundamentalism gone horribly awry".
The film has gained a sizable cult following since its release. The Bryan Loves Facebook group is the largest online Bryan Loves You community, attracting both fans and critics and functioning as a forum for posting reviews, analyses and opinions of the film as well as fan art.