It is Halloween, the festive, carnivalesque spirit has begun to stretch out its limbs and before you know, three drunk men are lugging a metal post box-esque contraption across the corner of a street. Minor acts of vandalism are not stuff of nightmares, but this specific object soon becomes the MacGuffin of ‘Wastelanders’, propelling an unsuspecting man’s life into absolute chaos. 
 

As wonderfully bizarre as it sounds, this is the premise of the film, a complete punch of crime, action, thrill, all neatly packed within a few minutes. 

A drunken night with his friends has left Adam in possession of this mailbox that now needs to be taken care of. However, in the process, some important paperwork is also discarded with it. When Adam returns to retrieve it, a terrible development awaits him, and he gets swooped up in the rigmarole of a violent, criminal act that is threatening to run out of control. 

The consistency of the world conjured with the storytelling and characters, suffice to say, exhibits finesse in execution, approach and tonality. Despite the simultaneous development of the several events, the film upholds the lucidity of its plot, ensuring that the viewer is equally invested in each of these events. 'Wastelanders' is a well-handled film, leaving one with the prospect of more such storytelling by Patryk Terelak and Rockwell White.

Wastelanders  | Short Film of the Month

Within its short duration, the film packs a complete punch of thrill, suspense, a malicious technological presence, and philosophical and existential struggles about the ideas of freedom, life, death and pain. It opens with a beguiling calmness as we are introduced to Ash who sits by himself in a car parked outside a hospital. He is plugged into the voice of a self-help program, Max, encouraging, goading him towards the path of freedom. The viewer, who is still in the dark about what will truly constitute this idea of freedom, is immediately put at unease by the cold, frigid palette of the visuals, serving as an ominous portent of what is to come. Our protagonist moves from one room to another, clearly in pursuit of an object or a goal he is not entirely convinced about. And yet, despite the turmoil and the internal conflict, he pushes on, for the voice tells him to. Max is a strange union of a voice you will trust, despite being entirely sure that nothing good will come out of it. Additionally, the inadvertent question at this juncture is what has preceded, and will eventually succeed, this specific lesson or task that Ash is about to achieve, fulfill. There is further the absence of neat categories which leave you wondering at what point does Max stop being a recorded lesson and instead become a controlling, manipulative, all-powerful voice in Ash's head? The departure is as sudden and jarring for the viewer as is the realization for Ash of the deed he is about to commit, leaving you with a disturbing conclusion to this episode, but also with a burning hankering for what lays ahead in his path.

Lesson 7 | Short Film of the Day

A core motivation of the film remains its interaction with the fierce love of a mother for her son. However, the approach to explore this is far from what one might expect, allowing the unpredictability to work in its favor notably. Maya is under immense debt, is unable to stay away from alcohol, and on top of it all, now faces an imminent future where her son might be taken away from her. The question on which the narrative thus begins to pivot becomes how far is a woman willing to go to not allow this to happen? The plot operates within a controlled space, keeping the film's approach and utilization of resources limited and lean to bring its intentions to life, and some more. Also backed by strong performances, it presents a story that is engaging, shocking, and at the end of it, taken home in a deliberately disturbing manner.

Where's Toby? | Short Film of the Day

An underground syndicate, Red, its renegade rival clan, Black, and the government’s Special Forces to deal with them, constitute the world of ‘Figures’. As the warring factions wage an unending battle, a Special Forces operative, Kurtis finds himself in the heart of turbulent action. 

The film does a notable job of choreographing the action sequences. The swift pace and viper-like movements keep the viewer engaged and involved. At the same time, at the plot level, some key developments are swirling, ensuring that the protagonist's fate lies in the balance right till the very end. 

There is never a drop in the energy, crucial for a film as driven by action as ‘Figures’. Betrayal and questionable loyalties continue to thicken the plot alongside it, and when the most critical revelation finally arrives, it will leave the protagonist’s world, which has been constructed with the utmost care so far, completely destroyed.

Figures | Short Film of the Day

The film introduces us to a man in dark clothing, preparing for assumedly a romantic rendezvous. The mood established so far, however, is soon shattered by the arrival of an unexpected, strange guest, a man called Sam. The deliberatelty sudden change and contrast allows the narrative to pull the viewer deeper. 

 The predominant part of the action comes to develop within the same physical space, efficiently used by the lean cast and crew of the film. The two men, Arthur and Sam, sit across the table from one another, slowly sipping on their black coffee. A sense of something sinister being afoot never leaves the progression of events, until it finally allows itself an expression in the final revelation. The film comes to be marked by suspense, intrigue, mystery and terrible secrets simmering right below the surface, much like the coffee itself. 

 In order to enrich the story, there is further the attempt to employ the surroundings which are generously strewn (and perhaps a little too generously) with paper and hardbacks of Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk and Bret Easton Ellis. The space is established as a private, but foreboding house of pleasures, carnal desires, adopting the setting of a gothic castle for an urban, contemporary twenty-first century counterpart. It is, thus, in this dark realm where the two characters bring into action their own malicious intentions and motives, those that threaten to completely consume the world they have conjured so far for the viewer.

Polaroid | Short Film Nominee

The film has a singularity of tone that becomes its most defining characteristic. One night while delivering a pizza, Rylee ends up at Jesse’s doorstep, her former boyfriend who has moved houses since the end of their relationship. If this was not uncomfortable enough, her car gets broken into, with her wallet and crucial items stolen. 

As Jesse and Rylee come together to go on a wild goose chase based on evidence they have gathered from the site of theft, the film not only presents a story of suspense but also a personal emotional journey the two undertake vis-a-vis their relationship. While there is chemistry and suggestion of romance in the narrative, there is also intrigue and adventure. Not all aspects of the film take themselves too seriously, and that seems to be a deliberate choice within the realm of the detective story. The end result, albeit not without a few snags in terms of production, presents a completed trajectory of the two characters, and how the chaos around them ensures this completion.

Personal Pizza | Short Film Nominee

It's a bright day when a woman walks into the house of another, clearly for the first time. The house is located far from the city, in a quiet, isolated corner; the property has made itself available to the young filmmaker who is scouting locations for her next project. As Elena and Annie strike a conversation, a sense of something being deeply amiss gradually begins to make its presence felt. 

The conversation is strained, as if collapsing under the burden of an undercurrent that threatens to overpower it any minute. It is filled with uncomfortable gaps, a momentarily zoned-out participant in Annie, who hurriedly follows up the lacuna with a disconcerting compliment for Elena's eyes. The house is inhabited only by Annie, or so she mentions until some very disturbing sounds begin to be heard by both Elena and the viewer. Could this mean that Elena's fate is sealed or is there an escape left for her? 

 The narrative endeavors to share the many aspects of the darkness of the human mind. Without delving into the whys and hows of it, it presents to the viewer a series of terribly dark events, and thus, despite a few rough edges, this is how the film should be approached and engaged with.

The Perfect Daughter | Short Film Nominee

Locating itself in the twentieth century, the narrative introduces us to a man who has called in sick to work. His demeanor and the general setting establish a sense of deep unease, something truly amiss simmering right under the surface. As the clock ticks the hours away, we are taken deeper into his life. 

With an unhappy boss, a threatening man whose voice remains an ominous presence throughout, he is now at the heart of a work situation that is gradually getting completely out of hand, despite his best efforts. The narrative makes an earnest effort to involve the viewer further in the travails of this work day that has left the protagonist in an absolute fix. Tension continues to mount, but the physical reality of the character never changes. 

The film utilizes the same, confined space of a single room to take the viewer through the many developments within the plot. The end result, though not entirely devoid of a few loose ends, remains engrossing, all the while exhibiting potential in terms of storytelling and weaving a narrative.

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