Mary is a devoted wife and mother who strives to do her best with the cards she is dealt. With a teenage pregnancy that led to her never pursuing a college degree, she now raises her daughter, Annie, with the hope of providing her with all the opportunities she never had. However, the biggest obstacle to her dreams and plans is someone closest to Mary’s heart. By portraying all of this for the viewer, the film introduces us to a terrible reality defined by domestic abuse and oppressive familial control. 

At the heart of this loving and soft mother-daughter equation rests a cruel force in the form of the man of the household, John, who has vastly different plans for his daughter and far more terrible ways of achieving them. By giving us a quick glimpse into this realm of violence, dismissal of individual agency and voice, the narrative conjures a story that makes the viewer pause and truly pay attention. 

 The film presents a world where fear becomes an all-pervasive force to exercise the said control, but also one where the eventual falling pieces carry within a formidable sense of hope. Though a few rough edges remain in terms of narratorial progression, the storytelling, performances, and the intent behind it all make it easy to overlook them. At the film's conclusion rests a crucial story of violence, survival, and resilience.

The Follower | Spotlight

The film’s reality is one of complexities and nuances, and yet, the ideas are presented to the audience with unmissable ease and clarity. The narrative straddles a sense of the past and the present. 

A woman is swiftly losing her grasp on her memories, forgetting more than she can remember. The fear and heartbreak that this flow of events ushers in is mapped against a beautiful, bright summer where a young woman is the constant companion of the older, ageing one. 

Through the interactions of the two, perhaps the woman’s interactions with her own self, we are presented a thoughtful realm of stories, the pain of separation, even if sometimes it is the very cost of existence itself, and the pressing, urgent need to let go, if one is to truly accept the inexorable movement of time. All of this is constructed with a visual landscape that is evocative and skilled in its control and in all that it conveys. The screenplay and the performances only serve to strengthen it further, alongside a tonality and approach to writing and storytelling that should definitely be engaged with further in more such endeavors.

Everything in This World Is Exactly What It Is | Spotlight

The film presents a mosaic of thoughts, experiences, dreams, and aspirations, as well as vulnerabilities and hurt. The fragments are viewed together with the deliberate graininess of the visuals, the many pixels constantly dancing across the screen of this Super 8mm visual landscape, which not only lends the end result a notable texture but also a dreamy quality. 

In her pursuit to find her place within the world, the protagonist addresses a character we never see on screen called Kevin. As her different memories and experiences get painted against this free-flowing canvas, a multitude of emotions are presented to the audience. 
The film achieves all of this in its brief duration, as if distilling an overarching pursuit and the many efforts and streams of consciousness that constitute it. The voice that thus emerges is undiminished and paves the path for more such thematic and ruminative endeavours in the future.

Dear Kevin | Spotlight

Two women are located at the heart of a circuitous reality. As they try to figure out what this strange realm holds for them, a liminal space between life and death comes into existence. It develops to reveal that laws of time and space do not exist here, and that the fate of the two women hangs in the balance. 

The subsequent story presents a philosophical and reflective rumination on a seemingly arbitrary and obscure realm that is not devoid of its memory, or perhaps an echo, no matter how faint, of what it was to have once loved and be loved in return. 

The characters are portrayed with an unmissable sincerity as the viewer follows them on their path. The final result is engaging, atmospheric, and makes notable use of a physical space to rope in fantasy, symbolism, and a strong voice that should be explored in longer storytelling endeavors with similar themes.

Halfway | Spotlight

The film locates itself in an empty diner, save for a couple and a curious stranger who watches them from afar. As the couple discusses their internal dynamics, the issue of one of them not giving the other one enough attention, a horizon of expectation seems to be forming before the viewer. However, before this thought can go any further, the stranger’s presence becomes too overwhelming for either of them to ignore, and in an even stranger progression of events, he joins them. 

As the conversation now begins to move amidst the three of them, a tight script, marked by something deeply disconcerting right under the surface, takes shape. Thus develops a story of relationships, the secrets they harbour, and how fidelity and the very idea of attention can mould them. No one can be trusted in this realm. 

The narrative presents a single, crisp moment and closes a little too soon, definitely leaving the viewer wanting for more. With its seamless screenplay, skilled performances, and chemistry, it is easy to overlook a slight inconsistency within the sound department.

Additionally, it would be interesting to see the story delve deeper into the lives of the characters in a longer project in the future.

Star Night | Spotlight

It is a sunny afternoon, and the air is cheery as a group of friends enjoy a barbecue. An observation about the yard’s grass gets competitive juices flowing and two from the party procure a lawn mower each, turning it into a little game of sorts. 

A harmless activity at first glance, the circumstance gets very dire, very fast, but never without humor that defines the film right from the get-go. As innards of a character go whizzing all around them, and slapstick meets gore, the narrative presents a bite-sized moment of comedic horror. The crimson of human blood and entrails makes for an interesting contrast against the bright, formerly cheerful day. Action more than dialogue constitutes the screenplay, and all of this together ensures that the audience is shocked, horrified, and entertained in equal measure.

Mow Down | Spotlight

The film presents a physically confined reality of two characters who undertake a very dangerous, challenging scheme. In this scenario, hired assassins dispose of an important associate of a political campaign, and it is the ensuing conversation that forms the body of the film. 
The narrative employs intelligent use of its resources, keeping itself limited to a single room and a television screen, to invoke lofty ideas, as well as their critique. The writing and story construction exhibit strength and professionalism, and present a result that endeavors to take apart the intensely dysfunctional machinery of capitalism, where the rich get richer, and money and power remain the only true masters. 

The final result of the film presents a germ of an idea, albeit handled with attention to detail. Consequently, it reveals potential to be developed into a longer, deeper commentary on the same, alongside notable performances that shoulder this endeavor with skill.

Death is Business | Spotlight

The protagonist of the film, Poppy, has the power to put the viewer at unease right from the get-go. With her stiffly wavy, blond hair and a smile that never reaches her wide, wide gaze, she encourages a young woman to find her best self, and yet, the discomfort never leaves the scene. 
As the story progresses, and Poppy inserts herself into the life of another unsuspecting woman, it becomes clear that something truly amiss is afoot, until the shattering revelation of a death by suicide. In the process, the film presents a brief but sharp glimpse into the hollowness of multilevel marketing schemes that exploit and damage people in terrible ways. 
The narrative’s engagement with its protagonist’s internal journey further offers an insight into the kind of individuals that constitute this world. The film maintains its approach and storytelling with steadfastness, alongside a strong portrayal and performance of the protagonist. The short is a concept for a longer project, one that surely has the potential of becoming a gripping full-length feature that takes the viewer deeper into its realm.

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