Mirror | Short Film of the Month

Short Film of the Month October 2023

Mirror

By Kevin R Tosi with 7.2

dark comedy · Short Films · english

sotm
Right at the onset, with simply its title, the film sets the tone for several ideas pertaining to identity, beauty, and how we perceive ourselves, while also hinting at insecurities. 'Mirror' does not present a straightforward approach to these ideas, and instead, leaves it up to the viewer to make what they will of this tale which is marked by humor, unexpected moments of tension, and the plight of the protagonist amidst it all.

Strange messages have been appearing on people’s mirrors all over the world, messages of encouragement, validation, and support. And yet, Dale’s message is far from that, it’s more of an attack on his personality. As he grapples with its meaning, the story takes the viewer down some very interesting paths.

Is the film about Dale’s struggle with intimacy, and how he eventually overcomes it in an unexpected manner? Or is it a story of his deep unease with his own body, and its desires and wants, not without its undercurrents of homoeroticism, and is it only when he is able to make peace with all of it that a negative message finds a positive articulation in his life as well as the film? Or is it about none of this but an underlying threat of violence that takes him to a disconcerting corner, to an experience that he has sanitized for worldly consumption, giving people what they want to hear?

The film raises all of these questions and answers none, and it is in these grey areas that it attains completion and becomes an entertaining, involving endeavor in storytelling.
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