A film focusing on a man’s lone journey of processing the grief of losing his little daughter, Martin Sandin’s 15-minute Distressed understands grief, and often gets it right gut-wrenchingly well. But the film surprises. Despite resonant cinematography and Carl Ingemarsson Stjernlöf’s brilliant, carefully measured performance, Distressed takes a toll on its audience’s patience. Nathan, to… Continue reading Distressed: A Meditation On Loss And Grief
Author: Indie Shorts Mag Team
Titus & Mirabella: Return To Ye Olde Days Of Rom-Coms
Melania Crisan’s romantic comedy Titus & Mirabella travels the well-known paths of its genre, from slapstick comedy, to awkward gaffes played for laughs, to first date fumblings and every now and then, hints of a blossoming romance. The story is told through flashbacks. In the ‘now’, Mirabella (played by Crisan herself) wakes up in a… Continue reading Titus & Mirabella: Return To Ye Olde Days Of Rom-Coms
Falafel Cart: Cute Animation And A Tale Of Trauma
Falafel Cart tricks you into a false sense of security with its claymation style (instant nostalgia trigger) and light, hopeful music. Until it pulls the rug from under you. Abdullah Al-Wazzan’s 14-minute animated short continues this trend through the film. One minute you are skipping along to its happy tunes in its make-believe, safe world,… Continue reading Falafel Cart: Cute Animation And A Tale Of Trauma
The Performance: Anxieties, Distilled And Intensified
Actors and their insecurities. It may safely be said that most people are by now familiar with that can of worms. Nagged by the absence or fickleness of fame, this is a breed of artists who, at least on film, are but one stray comment away from a breakdown. Now, one cannot talk about Raphael… Continue reading The Performance: Anxieties, Distilled And Intensified
Our Oceans: The Loneliness Of Years Long Estrangement
Matt Macedo’s examination of how the effect of absent parents shaped two siblings in Our Oceans rings true to life, especially against the backdrop of loss of a parental figure. Over the course of eleven minutes, Macedo unfurls the tensions between brothers Chris and Sean, intercut with memories of a day at the beach, a… Continue reading Our Oceans: The Loneliness Of Years Long Estrangement
I N T E R S T I C E: Intricately Crafted Brutal Drama
CW: Pedophilia, underage prostitution Nothing feels out of place when a teenage boy looks less than delighted upon receiving a VR kit from his father. Really, what could be more natural than a disappointed teenager? But writer-director Oskar Willers steadily unsettles his audience as the 12-minute Interstice, or Mellanrum progresses from its innocuous opening seconds. … Continue reading I N T E R S T I C E: Intricately Crafted Brutal Drama
Black Orchid Challenge: Livestream, Horror And The Sad Flavours Of 2020
Kevin Capiello’s Black Orchid Challenge, co-written by Stephen Bell, is about as zeitgeisty of 2020 as it can get. A four-minute horror film about a livestreamer, through a livestream? Not only is it an internet-era wet dream, it also resonates with the new normal of COVID-19. As a bonus, it might even remind you of… Continue reading Black Orchid Challenge: Livestream, Horror And The Sad Flavours Of 2020
White Feather: Reverse Symbol Of Hateful Fervour
Daniel Arbon’s White Feather expresses now the empathy that the subject of his film did not receive in his own time. Set in post-WWI Britain, the film in slow, long takes, follows George E. Arbon in his present-day and pained flashbacks of the three years past. The scenery is gorgeously green, evincing the absence of… Continue reading White Feather: Reverse Symbol Of Hateful Fervour
Trapped Inside: Claustrophobia And Many, Many Questions
If jump scares, and a lot of jump scares, are your thing, then hop on to the ride that is Usher Morgan’s Trapped Inside. To enforce the starts and screams, Trapped Inside is a bottle film, taking place in the cramped confines of a bathroom — with a lot of malicious entities. Arguably the only… Continue reading Trapped Inside: Claustrophobia And Many, Many Questions
High On Heels: Informative Documentary That Walks You Into The World Of Heels
For a master cobbler, it is his craft; for a shoe designer it is his work of art; for a model, it is an accessory; for a podiatrist, it is their number one source of patients’ woes. But for a woman — it is a measure of her self-esteem; or is it? Writers Lola Kayode… Continue reading High On Heels: Informative Documentary That Walks You Into The World Of Heels