44: Psychological Horror in a Liminal Space-Time Loop

Dhwani Shah’s 44, a psychological horror, follows a young woman through her (mis)adventure into an unfinished skyscraper in the middle of the night. That line does not give it away yet but 44 is entertainingly meta. Watching it, you cannot help but think that this is a film you have seen before, and yet it keeps you in its grips for its 18-minute runtime (you struggle, of course). 

Stu (Sarah Hashmi) is out with her cohort to sell a batch of drugs. Tense errand, and yet, she is transfixed by a trivial  light high up in an otherwise uninhabited building. When the job goes belly up and the team is scampering for cover, where does Stu go but right into the building with the blinking light. To give it a touch of old school horror in the age of ultra streamlined everything, Stu carries a physical flashlight and with it, the threat of it going out at the wrong time.  

The narrative is riveting in parts and entertaining overall. Stu climbs floor after floor, often obscured by the dark, the threat of cops on her tail, until the danger crosses over from external to interior. Having reached the 44th floor, Stu becomes stuck in an irrational space loop. No matter which exit she takes, it leads right back to 44. There is both monotony and dread in the sequence while Stu takes her time becoming acquainted with her predicament as the audience wants the character to find a way out while knowing well enough there isn’t going to be any for a while yet. The story’s familiarity plays into the fear and suspense it creates (there is a mysterious, stubbornly elusive pursuer to boot). Editing, in its sometimes discontinuity, can either be irritating or the perfect technique depending on the viewer. Either way, it is jarring. 

44 is a fun ride while it lasts, made better by its setting. The film has a gratifying physicality to it, of which the flashlight is a less interesting precursor. The building with its crude, unyielding unfinished-ness is the farthest thing from streamlined convenience. It is simultaneously liminal and unending. Painted on signs, clanging metal, and protruding frame are certainly not sleek, and neither do they possess the aesthetic appeal to be postmodern hip. They just are, the building naturally antagonistic to Mumbai’s shiny facade, and hence its unsettling effect. The glittering city is tauntingly visible and out of reach. 

Watch 44 Horror Short Film