Brilliant Blair Witch-style thriller movie now available to watch at home

The final third of this movie had us on the edge of our seats.

The movie follows Robbie Lyle (played by writer-director Robbie Banfitch), an aspiring filmmaker who returns from California to his childhood home in the backwoods of New Jersey.

There lives his estranged mother, Leslie (Leslie Ann Banfitch). The pair had a falling out over Robbie leaving home, as well as the mysterious disappearance of his sister, Noelle, shortly thereafter.

Noelle had been walking in the woods, beside the nearby Tinsman Road, when she vanished without a trace.

Upon Robbie's return to New Jersey, he begins filming the grief-stricken Leslie, who believes Noelle is trying to communicate with her from beyond the grave.

At the same time, the documentarian launches his own investigation into his sister's disappearance. This eventually culminates in Robbie retracing Noelle's steps, venturing deep into the New Jersey backwoods alone.

Watch the trailer for Tinsman Road right here:

Banfitch broke onto the scene, at least in horror and arthouse film circles, with 2022's The Outwaters. This was a surreal, experimental, extremely lo-fi found-footage flick that left a huge impression on JOE.

That said, it was also highly divisive: the rare movie that earned a solid 75% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes while gathering a very low 3.8 IMDb score.

Tinsman Road is definitely more commercial than The Outwaters, though it is a slow-burn that may test less patient viewers.

The faux-documentary opening text of Banfitch's latest reads: “We wish to thank the Lyle family for their trust during the making of this documentary. We chose to tell their story in its purest, most uncompromised form. It contains graphic material.”

Adding to the verisimilitude is the shaky found-footage style captured on a vintage, personal camcorder and the fact that real-life mother-and-son Robbie and Leslie Ann Banfitch play a mother-and-son duo onscreen.

Though this mumblecore-esque section of the story may disappoint those seeking a set piece or jump scare every couple of minutes, you have to applaud Banfitch's commitment to realism, which pays off brilliantly in its absolutely nerve-rattling final third.

This is because, by this stage, we believe in and care about the lead characters entirely. We're begging for answers as to what happened to Noelle. We've established that the New Jersey backwoods is home to wild animals, as well as possibly ghosts and killers.

So, when Robbie eventually embarks on a days-long journey into the woods Blair Witch-style, armed only with a Mini-DV camera and a knife, to search for his sister's remains, every snapped twig and bump in the night had us on the edge of our seats. We don't want to spoil anything, so all we'll say is the climax of Tinsman Road deeply unnerved us, while providing a highly satisfying resolution to its mysteries.

If you are looking for a horror thriller that takes a fresh approach and accomplishes a lot with very little, we'd highly recommend this.

Tinsman Road is on Ireland, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand digital platforms now.