Arlo Grey Gordon’s Stall is a triumph of writing in independent cinema. Shot in a single take, the 7-minute drama depicts the terror of crossing paths with American gun violence. It is keenly specific to the experience, and the camera that follows its protagonist, almost but not always to the depths of her helpless despair,… Continue reading Stall: Grief in Preparation for Unspeakable Grief in a Film on Gun Violence
Category: Reviews
Canta Santiago: Grief, Amid the Demands of Showbiz and Wages
James Valdez’s Canta Santiago is set in a restaurant and features a protagonist with a recently passed brother, so thoughts of The Bear are not totally out of place, but this is a different arena altogether. For one, the protagonist is a child. For two, he does not have room, not really, to fail. There are two… Continue reading Canta Santiago: Grief, Amid the Demands of Showbiz and Wages
The Last Musketeer: A Portrait Defined by Its Missing Subject
Kyzen Del Aguia’s The Last Musketeer is a documentary in tribute to the late Canadian fencer, Douglas Jackson. Slated to be a character study of the fencer and coach with the man himself on screen, the film diverged down a different path when Douglas passed away early in 2023. In its place, Douglas’ peers and… Continue reading The Last Musketeer: A Portrait Defined by Its Missing Subject
That Night: An Expectant House and Its Chilling Emptiness
Joseph McDonagh’s 13-minute That Night is a horror film that thrives on dread. Its preoccupation with dread itself frees it from providing a neatly packaged source. Instead, it develops an atmosphere of anticipation. Rosie (Rianne Britten) and Theo (Ben Dalton) are about to have a daughter. There should be little reason for there to be… Continue reading That Night: An Expectant House and Its Chilling Emptiness
Dipsomaniac: Bad Birthdays and a Bloody Becoming
Jeremy Stewart’s Dipsomaniac is a 17-minute dramedy following its protagonist’s lonely 27th birthday. His sole companion, Hal—unhinged from the word go—makes Tim and the audience wish there were zero companions. But Hal is here to stay, at least for the duration of the film. For the large part, the story takes place inside a party… Continue reading Dipsomaniac: Bad Birthdays and a Bloody Becoming
I am ______: The Production and Upkeep of Lies for the Aesthetic
James Dubbeldam’s I am __ is a 5-minute rather simplistic drama depicting three facets of the influencer figure through moments in the life of a teenage vlogger. With just a single actor within the diegesis, the film uses title cards to deliver its commentary on the well-known misrepresentations on which contemporary social media is based.… Continue reading I am ______: The Production and Upkeep of Lies for the Aesthetic
Sherbet: Rage and Tenderness Near the Finishing Line
Danny Gibbons’s Sherbet is a 26-minute journey through connections made in pits of despair, and the irreversible changes they leave in their wake. The story of a cab driver and a young passenger as they ride to the airport late at night takes the backseat in light of the film’s low-budget innovation on virtual production.… Continue reading Sherbet: Rage and Tenderness Near the Finishing Line
Uroboros: Warped Time and Other Horrors of Oppression
Diarmuid Donohoe’s Uroboros is a depiction of historical, gendered trauma in 20th century Ireland. The film sets out to portray the fractured mind of its protagonist with a non-linear narrative, showing the reach of trauma, and through it, the reach of the tyrant at its root. Sunning by a lake surrounded by cliffs, the rosy… Continue reading Uroboros: Warped Time and Other Horrors of Oppression
The Housewife: Best (Biased) Laid Plans and How They Go Awry
Jeremiah Kipp’s thriller The Housewife turns the tables on assumptions about the women who stay at home. Following the abduction of a woman and her kindergarten-aged son, the film founds itself on bias and the dormant capabilities it can sometimes fortunately neglect to see. Written by and starring Kelly A. Turner, the proof of concept… Continue reading The Housewife: Best (Biased) Laid Plans and How They Go Awry
Skin: The Profundity of Transitioning, Distilled
The logline to Leo Behrens’s Skin describes it as a poetic self-exploration of identity. It does not mention the utter warmth and tenderness that the 7-minute wordless drama is capable of making its viewer feel, and the lion’s share of that credit goes to its sole actor, Lío Mehiel. Opening on a scene of dereliction… Continue reading Skin: The Profundity of Transitioning, Distilled