Founders Day (2023)
Written by Erik Bloomquist
Directed by Erik and Carson Bloomquist
A small town is shaken by a series of ominous killings in the days leading up to a heated mayoral election. (IMDB)
Founders Day (2023)
While a politically divided small town in America gets ready for a mayoral election with shouty demonstrations in the street, Allison (Naomi Grace) escapes the angry mob for some alone time with her girlfriend, Melissa (Olivia Nikkanen). Allison is leaving to go to college and Melissa is begging her to stay. Or, at least, she is before a masked mad man appears, bashes her over the head with a gavel and tosses her body over the side of a bridge.
Thus begins a series of murders that threaten to derail the upcoming Founders Day celebrations. The current mayor wants to keep the beaches, sorry, parks, open and allow the festivities to continue. Her opponent in the polls, Melissa’s father, wants to shut them down.
Founders Day is a film of two halves. It starts well, builds up the tension around the attack on Melissa and a slowly rising body count but, by the time we get the mid-point reversal and a cheesy montage, the tone shifts and things get a bit silly.
Now, I realise that Founders Day is a comedy, and it is supposed to be a bit silly, but it just didn’t resonate as particularly funny for me. There were a couple of moments where I found myself chuckling, but in places where I wasn’t sure I was supposed to be. Your mileage may vary of course, we all see things differently but, Founders Day’s satire is lost in a lot of shouty “comedy” that just didn’t work for me.
This is partly because the plot is so ridiculous. To get away with a plot that doesn’t really make any sense, you really need to lean into the comedy aspect of the movie but, for a comedy, I think Founders Day tries to take itself too seriously. For me, the plot seems to think it is more complex and inventive than it is derivative. The movie tries to be Jaws meets Scream, but doesn’t come up to scratch when compared to either.
I feel I need to qualify this, so, if you don’t want the plot spoiled, skip the next paragraph…
***** Major Founders Day Spoilers *****
The plot of Founders Day, in a nutshell, revolves around one of the townsfolk manipulating schoolkids into a killing spree. The plan is to disrupt the election, discredit the two candidates, and win the election by default as a sitting member of the town council. This is a lot of work that could actually strengthen the candidates’ cases because their children are victims. The concept of dead kids being election winners is mentioned more than once, and I guess this is part of the satire, but, ultimately, this seems pointless. Both candidates are portrayed as obnoxious twats and the mastermind behind the plot is a pillar of the community, seemingly loved by (almost) all, who would easily have been elected above those two idiots without all the murder. It all just felt a bit pointless.
*****END OF SPOILERS*****
It’s not all bad though, it’s directed well, looks good and there are some nice shots; it doesn’t look cheap. The kills a decent enough, although I suspect a lot of people will be disappointed with the fairly watered down violence for a slasher. There are some good performances though, with Grace playing the lead well and Catherine Curtin as Commissioner Peterson obviously having fun channelling Columbo and Kojak. Erik Bloomquist’s Oliver, assistant to the mayor, was also an interesting character, clearly holding more power behind the scenes than the people of the town (maybe even the mayor) knew but was sadly underused.
I wouldn’t say Founders Day was entirely predictable, elements of the plot will unravel in your head before they do onscreen. While I figured out ‘who’ the ‘why’ was a lot more difficult to comprehend because of how ridiculous, to me, the reasoning was (see the spoiler if you want to learn more.) Ultimately, I think this is what damaged Founders Day for me and I just couldn’t “get beyond” the contrived plotting.
Founders Day will probably entertain as a bit of a laugh if you can stream it for free, but the score on IMDB feels about right. It isn’t offensive as a film but struggles to deliver on its own pretentions and how much you enjoy it will probably depend on how closely your humour matches the writer and the director.
You may love it; it just wasn’t for me.
Founders Day is out now on Digital Platforms.
