Richard Corso’s The Switcheroo Room opens with a startling audition scene. Marilyn Monroe (or at least someone mimicking her) delivering a monologue in a loop, paused, resumed and picked apart at the whims and desires of the powers that be of Hollywood. Written by Gregory Ferbrache, The Switcheroo Room travels to the seedy underbelly of… Continue reading The Switcheroo Room: Aspiration and A System of Its Exploitation
Author: Indie Shorts Mag Team
Prego: A Comedy a la Seth Rogen
Usher Morgan’s Prego is exactly what it sounds like: a pregnancy comedy. Set in a cafe where a woman must announce the unexpected pregnancy to a man who does not even remember her name, Prego highlights the ridiculousness of the situation. If it is reminiscent of Knocked Up (2007), that is not an accident; Taso… Continue reading Prego: A Comedy a la Seth Rogen
Return to Sender: Surveillance, Control and Paranoia in Modern Times
Russell Goldman’s Return to Sender is a psychological horror that taps into the uniquely contemporary fears concomitant with living in the digital age. It creates a maze of these fears, trapping the protagonist in a waking, inescapable nightmare. As a recovering alcoholic, Julia (Allison Tolman) is already at a precarious place in life. She has… Continue reading Return to Sender: Surveillance, Control and Paranoia in Modern Times
Hope En Route: Everyday Duty and its Ripples through a Pandemic
Des Matelske’s Hope En Route (co-written with Jeremy Marshall) is a product of hindsight. Depicting the actions of a truck driver during the pandemic, the film imbues its scenes with precious hindsight which transform innocuous instances into significant moments. The protagonist is Dan (Daren Matelske), a truck driver and heavy smoker who goes from day… Continue reading Hope En Route: Everyday Duty and its Ripples through a Pandemic
The Beachcombers: A Collection of Treasures
Peter Naylor’s The Beachcombers is a 7-minute film based on a poem by Jon Lawrence and narrated by Emilia Fox. The poem, an ode to childhood and parents who populate them, narrates the story of Bronwyn and her father’s beachcombing routine and the ways people leave themselves behind for others. The film is a visual… Continue reading The Beachcombers: A Collection of Treasures
The Burglary: Entry into a Realm of Nightmares
Michael Richard Houghton’s The Burglary is a trip into the psychological realm of the mind. Confined within a cramped apartment, the Lynchian film explores a specific claustrophobia through the story of a man reacting to a burglary. Played by Tom Rainn, Seth K. (perhaps a reference to Kafka?) walks into his apartment, practically sleepwalking. He… Continue reading The Burglary: Entry into a Realm of Nightmares
Sofa Surfer: What a Night Without a Home Can Do
Michele Olivieri’s Sofa Surfer is a drama about a homeless man with nowhere to go for the night. Thirteen minutes long, the film follows him as he tries to stay off the streets and stay sober. It is the middle of winter. Rob (Tom Dayton) usually circulates between his friends’ and acquaintances’ homes for shelter… Continue reading Sofa Surfer: What a Night Without a Home Can Do
Land of Nod: A Refiguration of Jeanne d’Arc
Josh Massarotti’s 12-minute Land of Nod briefly portrays the eve of Joan of Arc’s execution, directly referencing the 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc. Featuring only Jeanne and one member of the Church, the film takes a more modern approach but does not abandon its roots. The sole Inquisitor (Reece Mitchell) appears as a… Continue reading Land of Nod: A Refiguration of Jeanne d’Arc
The Changing Room: Tapping into the Reliable Horror of Mirrors
Sam Evenson’s The Changing Room is a 4-minute horror within the confines of a changing room. The cramped quarters made terrifyingly vast, it assumes the shape of nightmares. Featuring a woman who crosses over to an unauthorised area in a store, the film weaponizes voyeurism as its source of horror. The unnamed woman (Jamie Taylor… Continue reading The Changing Room: Tapping into the Reliable Horror of Mirrors
Sometime Else: A Thriller Through Sci-Fi and Therapy
James Cleave combines romance with science fiction and puts a dark spin on it with the 21-minute Sometime Else. Premised on a therapy session that the protagonist attends, the film delves into his psyche to unfold a series of events in the attempt to find answers. Though a thriller, the film starts off in a… Continue reading Sometime Else: A Thriller Through Sci-Fi and Therapy