Category: Reviews

A Helical: An Experimental Sci-Fi Entrenched In Philosophy

Marcus McMahon starts out by hooking the audience in with the very title graphics of his 30-minute sci-fi A Helical. Which then progresses to graphics in the 80s and 90s style: chunky, pronounced shapes and bold colours. And enter our protagonist, A Helical, played by McMahon. This is an experimental film, and A Helical is… Continue reading A Helical: An Experimental Sci-Fi Entrenched In Philosophy

Furthest From: What A Good Screenplay Can Do

Jessie is 8. But sometimes, it does not show in her behaviour. With only her teenage sister around, it is clear who she is trying to emulate. Kyung Sok Kim’s 19-minute Furthest From (screenplay by Rex Reyes) delves into and demonstrates the character with such subtle detailing, it affords a moving look into a child’s… Continue reading Furthest From: What A Good Screenplay Can Do

Reading Gaol: The Ballad Of Oscar Wilde

Aymeric Nicolet’s honest portrayal of Oscar Wilde and his days in prison, leading up to the composition of De Profundis, is simply named Reading Gaol. And appropriately, it reflects as much on Wilde’s experiences as it does on the almost alive beast that is Reading Gaol. And yet again, this is not a surprise; the… Continue reading Reading Gaol: The Ballad Of Oscar Wilde

Asking For It: The Add-On Traumas After Sexual Violence

The title of writer-director Yusra Khan’s Asking For It may do to its audience exactly what its characters face: trigger the singular trauma of being told that the abuse they faced was due to their own fault. When you do move past it, Asking For It is nothing like what it sets you up to… Continue reading Asking For It: The Add-On Traumas After Sexual Violence

The Cloud Forest: Wholesome ASMR Content

A short short animated film, Justin Kleiner’s The Cloud Forest is a 2-minute journey into a fantasy world where robots and mystic creatures exist in harmony. Kleiner uses soft pastel colours to create a wholesome, welcoming world. Sans dialogue, the story focuses on Nuno, a wooden robot answering the call of distressed creatures deep within… Continue reading The Cloud Forest: Wholesome ASMR Content

Home Movies: The Unmitigated Horror Of Discovering Your Parents’ Porn

Keagan Karnes’ Home Movies is a by the numbers comedy-drama centred around two siblings who come together after their father’s death. Expectedly, one is a success at life and the other, much less so and the squabbles between them, big or small, stem from just that. A surprise discovery while the two, Abigail (Catherine E.… Continue reading Home Movies: The Unmitigated Horror Of Discovering Your Parents’ Porn

Tomorrow The Birds Will Sing: The Value Of Integrity In a Hungry World

Tomorrow The Birds Will Sing opens on desolate lands and a score that stops you in your tracks from the get-go. Arvin Kananian’s silent film makes itself heard using choreography and that surreal score that only gets better as the story progresses.  At the heart of it is Nivra (Nina Mårshagen), one among many artists… Continue reading Tomorrow The Birds Will Sing: The Value Of Integrity In a Hungry World

Typhoon: Rooted In Performances

Watching Jack Forcinito in Andy Kastelic’s Typhoon, one is reminded strongly of Sean Penn, (in general and Dead Man Walking in particular). But resemblance or not, Forcinito is magnetic, injecting life and a lifetime’s worth of weight in his character in a mere sixteen minutes.  To be sure, Kastelic’s screenplay is fantastic, as is his… Continue reading Typhoon: Rooted In Performances

The Dust Monologues: Manifestations Of Emotions

Writer-Director Andy Kastelic’s The Dust Monologues sees him as The Return, one of the fifteen characters that lay themselves bare against a white backdrop that leaves the eye nowhere to go but on them.  The Dust Monologues is experimental; Kastelic uses the audience’s expectations to create stories that make sense right away and an overall… Continue reading The Dust Monologues: Manifestations Of Emotions

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