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

The night is far from young when a woman, complete with fishnets and asymmetrical jewelry, makes her way into a record store. The decade is the 90s, the hour late, and the store quiet, save for the absolute chaos that is about to go down in the wake of what could have been a mundane exchange. 

We meet only three characters, Dean, and a girl and a boy in this store. Brimming with nostalgic relics of an age gone by, deliberately conjured with strong control to locate the viewer within the same temporal space as the characters, the narrative handles the many complexities adroitly. 

It is precisely this control which ensures that the plot remains marked by crispness, not wasting its breath on hackneyed sentimentalism, and ensuring all of its punches land. Amidst it all, however, a series of very violent events, albeit regularly punctuated by humor, await the characters. Tying it all together with the right sprinkle of punk and angst that defined the age, the short film presents to you its own little world.

Traders | Short Film of the Day

‘Frayed’ presents a single circumstance, and deliberately lets the viewer fill in on the beginning and the conclusion of the plot. The middle is what we are allowed engagement with. By hurling the audience right into the heart of action, it conjures a world where people are mysteriously disappearing. 

The protagonist is returning home in this disorienting reality, and panic is rife. A call from his anxious girlfriend, followed by another from a friend, who is equally worried and scared, further mount the tension. As the protagonist himself attempts to make sense of the swiftly unfolding events, a truly shocking development awaits him. 

The film presents all of this while sustaining high-paced action, ensuring the viewer’s attention never wanders. The performance of each actor, whether we see them on screen or only hear their voice, simply bolsters this endeavor further. Notably, 'Frayed' ends at a crucial juncture, perhaps suggesting how the short can be an apt concept for a longer project.

Frayed | 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

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

Two friends are out for a walk along a dark, empty path. The narrative endeavors to establish that something is amiss during this seemingly usual evening. A third presence watches them from a distance, bidding its time, waiting for the right moment to make itself known. 

The narrative operates predominantly inside the space of suggestion. Within its short duration, it also attempts to pack humor, thrill and horror. As the two friends continue to talk about their immediate, mundane reality, the plot develops to come into its own. 

The future can perhaps offer a longer, more detailed version of the current project. Currently, it presents a moment, a circumstance that can be expanded upon in later attempts.

Most Viewed

Genres

Awards

Follow Us

Quick Links