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
Tag: Private
Second Stage: A Glimpse into a Day Transiting Through Grief
Keelay Moore James’s autobiographical Second Stage follows a woman through a day of grappling with grief as she goes through the anger stage of it. Her brother, a dogged companion, keeps steady watch over her lest her anger turn any more inwards. By the end of the day, Keelay may not have moved much further… Continue reading Second Stage: A Glimpse into a Day Transiting Through Grief
Fool’s Game: Marriage and Its Many Excesses
Laurence Roberts’s Fool’s Game takes what is already a generally stressful affair (hosting a dinner with old peers) and cranks it up a few notches. In the span of 15 minutes, the film unravels about two decades of accumulating disappointment and resentment that comes part and parcel with becoming adults in bad systems, and all… Continue reading Fool’s Game: Marriage and Its Many Excesses
Maladjustment: The Horrors in Lived Experience
Anatasha Blakely’s Maladjustment is a horror harnessing the unique experience of the pandemic lockdowns of a past that is yet to recede into the crevices of memory. Its ten-minute runtime feels much longer for the stifling intensity of the story, following a couple speed-burning their way through a few stages of love. Ben (Allen Regimbal,… Continue reading Maladjustment: The Horrors in Lived Experience
Bonding: A Spy Mystery Before the Thrills Come In
Luke Rex’s Bonding has a lot less to do with making friends than with avoiding vexing potential enemies. The 13-minute film borrows from the legacy of James Bond to create its own story, a new association being forged in a bar in the wee hours between an unwilling psychologist and an agent who has decided… Continue reading Bonding: A Spy Mystery Before the Thrills Come In
I Love Who You Are: Heartbreak and Questions that Evade Us
Joe Acierno’s I Love Who You Are takes a minimalist approach to explore a man’s heartbreak in this 5-minute drama. With no stylistic flourishes to further dramatise its narrative, the film asks its viewers to focus their entire attention on its protagonist as he tries to understand and verbalise a complex structure of grief. The… Continue reading I Love Who You Are: Heartbreak and Questions that Evade Us
Chastity: Part Two of the Saga of Groupie Academy and its Students
The second episode of the Clark brothers’ Groupie, Chastity: The Rock Groupie is shorter than its predecessor with a 23-minute runtime. The eponymous Chastity, already introduced in episode 1, appears here in what is essentially her origin story. Chastity (Alexis Calderon) is a social media influencer, living her life online, presenting to an audience even… Continue reading Chastity: Part Two of the Saga of Groupie Academy and its Students
Pumpkinstein: Sinners and Monsters, Doomed to Exist Without Dignity
Michael Natoli’s Pumpkinstein is a 21-minute horror spanning decades, nay, centuries, as it follows a witch with a bloody past and a desire for better. When a college-going young man crosses paths with her, the results are bloody, but not quite fatal. The film opens with the aforementioned boy, Ruben (James Capelli), drinking with his… Continue reading Pumpkinstein: Sinners and Monsters, Doomed to Exist Without Dignity
Dream Big: With Great Tiny Art Comes Great Responsibility to Avoid Localised Disasters
Pip Swallow’s 12-minute Dream Big is a fantasy comedy that teaches its timid protagonist to not just increase the scope of her dreams but make the decisive move to realise them. If it involves magical means, it is only to level the playing field. The film introduces Miranda (Rhoda Ofori-Attah) as something like pre-powers Spiderman.… Continue reading Dream Big: With Great Tiny Art Comes Great Responsibility to Avoid Localised Disasters
Later Gator: Pulling a Dead Friendship Out by the Roots
Kevin Quinn’s Later Gator is a comedy-drama that knows how to balance tension with humour, stemming from the same source: its resentful protagonist, Baird, himself unable to put words to his feelings. The story of a friendship coming apart, it understands that friendships can be stunting, sometimes through no one’s fault. Noah (Cameron Burton) is… Continue reading Later Gator: Pulling a Dead Friendship Out by the Roots