• Home
  • About Us
  • Submit Article
  • Contact Us
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2022Earlybird Deadline
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TVLive
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2022Earlybird Deadline
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TVLive
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
No Result
View All Result

Bound: The Unsettling Power Of People Who Only Look Harmless

Indie Shorts Mag Team by Indie Shorts Mag Team
28 Sep 2021
in Reviews
0
Bound - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

On the surface, Claire lives a thoroughly domestic life. Pictures of her family line the shelves. She plays solitaire in an empty, albeit homey house. From the looks of it, she leads a content life. Sure, she snaps at her family when they call her, and she resolutely refuses to move out of the house or see anyone, but that is just someone set in their ways, one could argue. And she is clearly a creature of habit.

Because as soon as the clock chimes the hour, she gets up without fuss or hesitation to first fill a bowl with cat food, and then another with cereal and milk. She methodically goes about what is clearly her established routine. She then heads down to the basement with the bowl of cereal, and things are starting to feel maybe just slightly not right. Mark Grabianowski’s 12-minute short, Bound has just set the stage for a chilling thriller.

Bound - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

When she sees a trail of fluid on the floor, something shifts in her harmless demeanour, a cold harshness sets in. The unlikely sight of a man (Garrett Botts), dirty and rather shrunken, tied up, takes form. The change in Claire sets in. Sheila Dionne inhabits the character to a T. The harshness now rests heavily on her features. The words she spits at the man conveys utter hate, and the story emerges: this is a burglar, and the murderer of her husband.

This revelation is not played for shock value, not quite. Instead, the editing makes it more like yet another thing on Claire’s itinerary. There is shock, yes, but it leans more normalisation. This is Claire’s perspective that we are following, and because it is old news for her, it has to be old news for us. Well, as much as the image of a man being held captive by an old woman can be old news.

MWnIGsE - Indie Shorts Mag
ADVERTISEMENT
Bound - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Bound feels a lot longer than 12 minutes, in the best ways. The screenplay smoothly slips in the exposition, such that the characters and their story do not feel unfamiliar. But nothing works as well in the film’s favour as its editing, which sets a perky pace, determining the mood and consequent reception of the reveal. The story may not have worked as well as it did if the style and pace were different. The blend of its quasi-humorous, lighthearted look with the sinister horror beneath is fascinating.

Trouble arrives with Claire’s daughter (Alicia Blasingame), who is determined to sell the house. Backed into a corner, there seems to be no way out of it for Claire, and the climax answers the question: will there be panic, or more cold calculation and ruthlessness?

Watch Bound Thriller Short Film

Bound: The Unsettling Power Of People Who Only Look Harmless
  • Direction
  • Cinematography
  • Screenplay
  • Editing
  • Music
4.4
Tags: DramaDrama Short Film ReviewReviewShort Film ReviewsThrillerThriller Short Film Review
Previous Post

Change of Course: On The Profound Powers Of Art During Grief

Next Post

Polaroid: Revenge Drama Dipped In Mystery And Megalomania

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Related Posts

One More Bite 食物瘾者 - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

One More Bite: The Price That Coping Mechanisms Exact

29th June 2022
Perfect - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

Perfect: Finding Homegrown Love Through Home Trials

28th June 2022
Next Post
Polaroid - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Polaroid: Revenge Drama Dipped In Mystery And Megalomania

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Featured Post

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

Sponsored

  • Recent Reviews
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Youtube Vimeo

About Indie Shorts Mag

Indie Shorts Mag is a publishing agency that works within the ‘short film circuit’. We review short films, documentaries, music videos and web series, amongst others. We stand out amongst the short film review sites for being multi-diverse & global in our platform and reach.
Our team works tirelessly to help promote, publicize and market your short films that deserve the shout-out! Besides reviews, we host film festival news as it’s a known fact that the film festival buzz is unmissable and we ensure you aren’t left behind!
We aspire to form a niche for ourselves as the ‘short film magazine’ that remains the hub for filmmakers & their audience.

Popular Topics

  • Announcements
  • Articles
  • Crowdfunding
  • Editorial
  • Film Festival News
  • Film Festivals
  • India Edition
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • Marketing
  • News
  • Online Premiere
  • Post-Production
  • Pre-Production
  • Reviews
  • Short Film
  • Short Film Competition
  • Short Film News
  • Tutorials
  • Web Series

Indie Shorts Mag on Instagram

Follow Us On Instagram

  • #ShortFilmReview: One More Bite: Some exits have to be clawed into existence. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Perfect: The perfect partner is just a mail order away! Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Santi: Home is somewhere. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: The Atomic Spawn: Nuclear test results are coming home to roost. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Allende: Shame is a deadly thing. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SpportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Something Behind The Walls: Something is eating everything hollow. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Sharing: It is a bittersweet thing. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: The Code Of Family: Age is the number of years of experience. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: Where’s Lilli? Is A Tale About Finding Inspiration & Conquering Fears

Read our review & watch the short, link in bio.

#ShortFilm #ShortFilmReview #SupportindieFilm #Trailer #FilmTrailer #ShortFilms

© 2015-2022 Indie Shorts Mag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2022
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TV
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review

© 2015-2022 Indie Shorts Mag.