'Howard's Mill' is a horror mockumentary that explores the curious disappearance of Emily Nixon, who goes missing without a trace in broad daylight whilst treasure hunting with her husband Dwight. A couple of film students become interested in the matter and probe deeper to uncover and link disappearances in the small town of Springfield, Tennessee spanning the last 40 years.
The film starts by introducing us to Dwight, a worried husband that is in search of his wife after the two were treasure hunting on an abandoned farm - Howard's Mill. After being gone 32 days and being interrogated by the police, Dwight remains the prime suspect in Emily's disappearance. As the film goes on we follow the documentarians and Dwight as they come across a missing girls case in 1994, where a 10 year old goes missing in broad daylight, leaving no clues. Having viewed the footage from the family's day out and having tracked down her father, the devastating effects of her vanishing are clear. Later on, the group discover that in 1977 an entire family had disappeared, leaving behind a young boy. Having tracked him down as well, the trio seem to have more questions than answers, as all the disappearances have left no clues, only sharing in the fact that they happened on Howard's Mill. The film is interspersed with interviews of the small town's current and retired detectives, adding to the mystery, as the cases have remained unsolved. Additionally, the documentarians interview a physicist that suggests a theory of jumping or travelling in time, as evidence is later uncovered where the missing girls remains are found in the pond on the abandoned property, yet present an issue where the remains are of the 10 year old girl, but do not match the timeline, as the pond was created years after her disappearance, making it impossible for her to have drowned when she disappeared. The film further peppers in interviews of people from Springfield, suggesting ominous sightings of unexplained phenomena and the possible presence of mystical beings. 'Howard's Mill' concludes by Dwight hopefully suggesting that he will not give up on searching for his wife, seemingly accepting the theory of possible time-travel, saying he will wait for her at Howard's Mill.
The film presents an intriguing premise, starting off by establishing a very recognizable format that many documentaries have. It further draws the viewer in by skewing from a straight-forward examination of the facts by probing deeper into the case to uncover the alleged mysteries of the story. The movie manages to entice the viewer well into the first half, but reaches a turning point after presenting the involvement of otherworldly beings and possible time travel. At this point the viewer has a choice to go all in and suspend their disbelief or entirely reject the premise. There seems to be an issue in the transition to buying in to the far out ideas, and this deters from the thus far even flow of the story. Curiously, another feature of the investigation involves the exploration of underground passages and caves beneath Howard's Mill, seemingly pulling in another direction in postulating another solution for the disappearances. In combination with the time travel theory and the sightings of mysterious beings, the feature seems to pull in too many different directions, ultimately failing to provide substantial backing for any of the propositions.
Even though our initial point of contact to the story is Dwight and the disappearance of his wife, the emotional impact of his story seems to diminish as the film progresses, rather focusing on the new threads on the other disappearances and never quite cementing the devastation that Dwight may feel for losing his sweetheart. Additionally, the film tries to convey suspicion on Dwight part-way through the feature, as footage is shown of him arguing with Emily, and later on the detective on the case relays to Dwight that Emily was having an affair. After taking in all the various factors, 'Howard's Mill' does not pack an emotional punch in its closing regarding Dwight and his marriage, plateauing and delivering an underwhelming conclusion to the investigation.
The interview feature of the film is well executed, - presenting a variety of sources and managing to deliver believable renderings of interviews with a variety of townspeople, past and current officers on the case and people devastated by the loss of their loved ones.
In all, 'Howard's Mill' sets off with a tantalizing premise that gets more curious along the way. However, the film reaches a turning point after which some viewers may be deterred to buy into the story any further, and eventually comes to a somewhat uninspired conclusion, as the story winds down by leaving us with the sense that Dwight will keep looking for his wife, yet the reason behind his motivation is questionable. The film is a fun take on mystery investigation, but does not pull off in delivering a single substantial thread for the viewers to buy into, pulling in too many different directions throughout its runtime.
Score: 2/4
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