Fantastic Fest ’26: “I Have Proof” Asks for Patience in its Scares
As the world around us grows more digital, people are looking to more tangible forms of media. Young people are turning to records, CDs, vinyls, DVDs, film cameras, and more. When everything is so crisp and clear, there’s a natural gravitation back to the analog sensibilities that slow everything down. James Cullen Bressack’s 2026 Fantastic Fest-premiering I Have the Proof was shot entirely on VHS-C, and you can tell. No effects in the world can create the true scratchiness of a VHS camera, which makes I Have Proof feel out of time.
It’s hard to really say what the plot of I Have Proof is. In broad strokes, it’s about Alex (Larsen Deane). He’s the one holding the camera and filming the events. I Have the Proof opens with text informing the viewer that what they’re about to watch is a series of six VHS tapes that have been placed into police evidence for a court case. The audience is introduced to Alex as he’s holding up a legal notepad with a message that reads, “IM ALEX AND IM NOT SUICIDAL.” The words look like they’ve been written in blood, and this will not be the first time messages are hastily scrawled like this.
I Have Proof is a slow burn of a movie in the recent stylings of Skinamarink. Information is slow to parse out, and even when the film ends, some things still feel a little hazy. The mileage for which a person will enjoy I Have Proof depends a lot on their enjoyment of the found-footage genre. While this type of movie has been expanded in recent years, I Have Proof goes back to basics with reactive, shaky camera work. For some, that’s thrilling. The excitement is in putting together the pieces with the little clues you can find in the corners of this crunchy, unpolished work.
Photo courtesy of Sandaled Kid, JCB Pictures and Robotic Donut
To call it unpolished in this circumstance is a compliment. I Have Proof is about a slow descent into a psychotic break. Because of the handheld nature, it’s an intimate look at one man’s loosening grip on reality. Of course, only the guy holding the camera can really make sense of what he’s seeing. That’s what happens when someone struggles with a distortion of reality. From the outside, it looks inexplicable and inaccessible. I Have Proof highlights that separation between the person and the real world around them. Because Alex is convinced that whatever is chasing him can get to him if he speaks, it’s a largely silent movie. That choice allows for an unnerving tension to grow as each new VHS tape is played, but somewhere around the fourth tape, the lack of information begins to weigh heavy on the viewer.
For those with patience and lovers of found footage, I Have Proof is an exciting throwback entry into the genre. For the impatient, the thrill of the finale does little to help the slowburn lead-up.
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