Indigo Parer’s Imperium examines the multifaceted expression of being a family bound by bitterness, resentment, and trauma going back generations. Running to twenty minutes, the film unravels its subjects on two distinct threads that both belie the complexity of familial coexistence and illuminate the gendered expression of festering tensions. Julio (Sal Galofaro) and Angela (Francesca… Continue reading Imperium: Living with a Failed Core
Tag: Private
POV: Slasher Flick with A Bit of Everything
Brian K. Rosenthal’s POV, seventeen minutes long, is a pastiche of slasher flicks, its indulgence in tropes the evidence of love for the genre. In it are references to a host of staples like The Purge, Scream, and Halloween, not to mention one of its main characters—a towering figure constructed out of Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody,… Continue reading POV: Slasher Flick with A Bit of Everything
The Coronating: Stunning Imagery and Excellent Performances in Fantasy Driven by Crisis of Faith
Justin Solaiman and Hudson King’s The Coronating is a gorgeously visualised 22-minute fantasy drama examining the conflict of a knight and sibling at the eleventh hour before the corrupt new king—their brother—is coronated. A chamber film, the plot is designed with flashbacks that take the film from mental turmoil to physical danger to loss, intertwining… Continue reading The Coronating: Stunning Imagery and Excellent Performances in Fantasy Driven by Crisis of Faith
Monét: Impermeable Friendships and Their Fatal Interruptions
Grief and death intermingle into a bitter mix in Kyung Sok Kim’s Monét, a 22-minute film about two best friends, one dead and the other, to her bitter regret, not. Left alone and alive with the weight of survivor’s guilt crushing her, the protagonist Sarai—played by screenwriter Tdjiri Yakini—must contend with the accusation of being… Continue reading Monét: Impermeable Friendships and Their Fatal Interruptions
Flight into Darkness: Declarations of and Assertions Against Insanity
Alexander Ratter’s Flight into Darkness, a loose adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s book of the same name, retains the sibling relationship but switches the male protagonist with Maria, the fears of losing their grasp of reality intact. Running to twenty-seven minutes, the film comes with a loose narrative chain that culminates into an undone state that… Continue reading Flight into Darkness: Declarations of and Assertions Against Insanity
Polaris: Young Love and Its Happy, Messy, Fleeting Glories
Eleni Doucas’ 17-minute young-adult romance, Polaris follows Lucy and Aidan, young residents at a mental health facility, who develop a friendship that flows into a fraught romance. The leading cast, emerald green in their inexperience, convincingly pull off their characters’ by turns awkward, dramatic, and just plain sweet relationship—quintessential young romance. The pairing is classic:… Continue reading Polaris: Young Love and Its Happy, Messy, Fleeting Glories
ID EST: (Sci-fi) Action for Its Own Sake
Shayda Frost’s ID EST, a 12-minute sci-fi, is weak on the writing but boasts the aesthetic of a high-budget slick, sci-fi action flick. Following the encounter of the main cast with their evil counterparts, the story dives into the background of its protagonist in flashbacks while in the present she is hanging on to her… Continue reading ID EST: (Sci-fi) Action for Its Own Sake
Broken Castles: Implied Historical Trauma and Fresh Efforts to Outrun Them
Ginevra Gentili’s Broken Castles, written by Ryan Napier, follows the tug of war between two brothers and the opposing perspectives they cling to, living in an ancient castle which seems intent on keeping them both tied to it. There isn’t a whole lot of dialogue, replaced instead by the internal torment of younger brother Shiloh,… Continue reading Broken Castles: Implied Historical Trauma and Fresh Efforts to Outrun Them
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
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