Jamie is a slightly well-to-do London teenager who is reaching the sort of end of his childhood where he is starting to rebel against the wishes of his parents. His new girlfriend down the street wants him to come out to party but it is a weeknight and he has an agreement with his parents that he will stay in and study on such days. Taking a smoke break on the roof, a neighbor offers him a sneaky way to avoid them – slip a sleeping tablet in their wine and, when they go to bed for a very deep sleep, sneak out of the house. Although feeling a little guilty on this, Jamie decides to go for it.
Writing about short films without spoiling them can be difficult sometimes because they may only be a few minutes long and the twist may be a big part of them as opposed to the final 5 minutes of a 120 minute film. This is a shame because often the same shorts really benefit from not being spoilt – which is why I flag this comment as not to be read unless you have seen the short, and also why I begrudge whatever egit put up the plot summary that extended to mentioning the Mayan prediction of the end of the world and that the story coincides with this. I dislike this because the film does such a good job of not being that, that to know something otherwise is coming works against what it is trying to do.
The first half of the film is a very well done coming-of-age tale. It isn't perfect but this is deliberate as it wants to draw you into this story and this type of film. It softly gives us Jamie and makes us believe in him. The soft music gives the whole thing a delicate air which draws you in future and, as Theo mentions, the sound is very well done (I always like it when a club ambiance can be delivered without breaking the main ambiance). Generally you will move forward through this part of the film, not only thinking you know where it is going as a genre piece, but still being interested in this part of it. The downside of this is that, even if you are into it, this side of the film does in retrospect feel like just a necessary part of the second part, which of course it is.
The second part delivers a real jolt scare with massive creatures and nightmarish visions appearing to come through from Hell to end the world. This could have been a cheap trick but what it prevents it being this is that it not only works very well but does also tie into the story of Jamie. I liked his rebellion continued till the end and in the meantime I was also quite caught off guard by the horror unfolding. The effects make it work because they are not only very impressive but they are very well deployed. Lewis is very convincing throughout and he helps a lot even if the other cast members are not so good.
It doesn't deliver a great deal of substance but as a short film it draws you in before flipping things on you quite spectacularly and, while I do not think there is a great deal more to it than this, I did enjoy it for what it did well with both halves of the film.
Writing about short films without spoiling them can be difficult sometimes because they may only be a few minutes long and the twist may be a big part of them as opposed to the final 5 minutes of a 120 minute film. This is a shame because often the same shorts really benefit from not being spoilt – which is why I flag this comment as not to be read unless you have seen the short, and also why I begrudge whatever egit put up the plot summary that extended to mentioning the Mayan prediction of the end of the world and that the story coincides with this. I dislike this because the film does such a good job of not being that, that to know something otherwise is coming works against what it is trying to do.
The first half of the film is a very well done coming-of-age tale. It isn't perfect but this is deliberate as it wants to draw you into this story and this type of film. It softly gives us Jamie and makes us believe in him. The soft music gives the whole thing a delicate air which draws you in future and, as Theo mentions, the sound is very well done (I always like it when a club ambiance can be delivered without breaking the main ambiance). Generally you will move forward through this part of the film, not only thinking you know where it is going as a genre piece, but still being interested in this part of it. The downside of this is that, even if you are into it, this side of the film does in retrospect feel like just a necessary part of the second part, which of course it is.
The second part delivers a real jolt scare with massive creatures and nightmarish visions appearing to come through from Hell to end the world. This could have been a cheap trick but what it prevents it being this is that it not only works very well but does also tie into the story of Jamie. I liked his rebellion continued till the end and in the meantime I was also quite caught off guard by the horror unfolding. The effects make it work because they are not only very impressive but they are very well deployed. Lewis is very convincing throughout and he helps a lot even if the other cast members are not so good.
It doesn't deliver a great deal of substance but as a short film it draws you in before flipping things on you quite spectacularly and, while I do not think there is a great deal more to it than this, I did enjoy it for what it did well with both halves of the film.