Short Film of the Day April 5, 2023
By Colin Garcia with 7
thriller · Short Films
‘Bad Trails’ is a film about exhaustion, the inability to break out of it and the bleakness that is associated with this realization. The grimness thus enforced is tied with an unlikely realm - motherhood.
Simply by establishing its premise, the film suffuses the narrative with a sense of foreboding that remains impossible to shake off throughout, even when the viewer might be momentarily tricked into believing in the possibility of a lighter, more colorful circumstance.
A woman, who has run out of everything she has to offer as a new mother, finds herself on the side of a desolate highway, and soon runs into strange companions. As the interaction begins between them, whether developing in reality or simply inside her head, the plot’s preoccupations are presented to the viewer. The end result soon becomes an engrossing, and disconcerting watch, ensuring that it presents the audience with an intriguing exploration of parenthood and a woman’s location within it.
Read Less