• 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 – 2023Earlybird Submission Open
  • 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 – 2023Earlybird Submission Open
  • 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

Bugtussle: A Doomed Dash For A Better Life

Indie Shorts Mag Team by Indie Shorts Mag Team
06 Mar 2022
in Reviews
0
Bugtussle - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Derek Sitter’s Bugtussle is a tale of dreams that were always doomed because the dreamers were always doomed. Explored through the failed robbery attempt of two men in small-town Oklahoma, the 21-minute film is a moving, bitter tragedy based all too accurately on reality. 

John Mese plays Crow, a middle-aged man taking one last shot at a decent life away from the cycles of poverty and trauma. Sitter features as the much younger Coyote, his sidekick whom he hates as deeply as he loves him. Coyote depends heavily on Crow, following the latter on his dreams and promises of a better life. This crops up repeatedly; as the time trickles by in their flimsy hideout, Coyote keeps asking Crow to tell him ‘the story’ of the life they are going to lead. His childlike nature is not accidental. 

Bugtussle - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Now, they are in hiding because the robbery failed. They do not have the money, Coyote shot someone and is himself shot. His childlike nature extends to all aspects. Impulsive, easily scared, he makes rash, poorly thought decisions that have dire consequences (even his choice of clothing affects them negatively). This continues. When a farmer (Jefferson Wisdom) wanders into their orbit, Coyote shoots him fatally. 

His own wound serves as the story’s countdown timer. There is little doubt as to where this is going. It is merely a question of when and what happens after. The bitterness of poverty pervades the two characters even if they are not actively dwelling on it. Coyote’s insistence that his gun was passed down to him by his father instead of being a mundane Walmart purchase hides in its subtext the aspirations for the kind of family and social stratum where heirlooms are the order of the day. It is an aspiration for something better than broken families, angry fathers, and poverty that allows for little more than a pickle at a fair. 

Bugtussle - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

For his own part, Crow has his own dreams. They allow him to be a better father than he has been, or indeed, his father had been. They allow for a life of comfort, and even happiness. For two poor men from nowhere, it was never going to be. This is what the film has been building towards, highlighting the cruelty of social and economic disparity and the systems that keep them that way. Crow is right when he says it was not a fair fight.

The writing cleverly weaves these complex subjects into small moments, culminating in a narrative that lasts less than half an hour. Bugtussle makes for a powerful film, one of empathy and understanding for its characters, and if it succeeds with its audience, it should be one of anger as well.

Watch Bugtussle Short Film Trailer

Bugtussle: A Doomed Dash For A Better Life
  • Direction
  • Cinematography
  • Screenplay
  • Editing
  • Music
4.5
Tags: CrimeCrime Short Film ReviewPrivateReviewShort Film Reviews
Previous Post

The legend of McCarthy and Little Bill: A Western That Can Laugh At Itself

Next Post

Doors: Play of Silence and Sound in Chilling Bite-Sized Horror

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Related Posts

Vacation - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

Vacation: Making Do with Nothing, and Loving it

25th January 2023
La Leyenda del Sombrerón - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

La Leyenda del Sombrerón: Dream and Reality Merge into an Exitless Maze

23rd January 2023
Next Post
Doors - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Doors: Play of Silence and Sound in Chilling Bite-Sized Horror

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Sponsored

Advertise Here

Featured Post

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

  • 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: Vacation: If you don’t have the tropics, store-bought is fine. Read our review and watch the short film. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: La Leyenda del Sombrerón: The hunter of souls stands still, sure of prey. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Chekhov
  • #ShortFilmReview: Silver Screen Suicide: Reel absorbs the real. Or is it the other way around? Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #WebSeriesReview: Secrets, Swipes and Lies: Two lives, and their many lies. Read our review and watch the series. Link in bio.

#WebSeries #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: A Clockwork Heart: A Classic Example Of Disney’s Precursors. 

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

#ShortFilm #ShortFilmReview #SupportindieFilm #Trailer #FilmTrailer #ShortFilms
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: Bittersweet: A Feel-Good Film To Instill Hope. 

Read our review & watch the short. Click on the link in our bio. 
 

#ShortFilm #ShortFilmReview #SupportindieFilm #Trailer #FilmTrailer #ShortFilms
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: Grizzly: An Explicit Critique Of Empty Tradition And Toxic Masculinity. 

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

#ShortFilm #ShortFilmReview #SupportindieFilm #Trailer #FilmTrailer #ShortFilms
  • #ShortFilmTrailer: Dweller: Sci-Fi Reflecting The New Normal, And A Few Warnings For The Future. 

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

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

© 2015-2023 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 – 2023
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TV
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review

© 2015-2023 Indie Shorts Mag.