Worlds We Created (2013) User Reviews

Could And Should Have Been More Expressionistic

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 23 March 2014]

This a short film dealing with the imagination of children and the natural instinct of childish recklessness and the dangers within that recklessness . It might be a simple premise and perhaps conscious of this writer/director Nicholas Santos tries to involve a gimmick of making a short film that has no dialogue from any of the characters with the only dialogue coming from a television set showing the American space program of sending men to the moon . This is possibly unnecessary but the story works well enough without any dialogue . It also contains some impressive cinematography but one does think Santos should have concentrated much more on the expressionistic visuals of the children playing soldiers and of the sitting in a rocket hoping to take off . That said I doubt if the budget would have stretched that far so WORLDS WE CREATED is a competent though far from outstanding short film which is a little bit too simple and straight forward

Well made coming of age story with a nicely dark twist on the norm (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 18 March 2014]

A young boy dreams of being an astronaut but is pulled away from the televised rocket launch by his mother, who takes him to a friend's house where he plays cowboys and Indians. When one of the boys takes it a bit too far, it triggers an event that will see the boy very much stuck between the world of childish fantasy and adult reality.

I have tagged this comment with spoilers because to my mind even the 2- line plot summary on the main page is a spoiler since it tells you the whole film (albeit not the specifics). This short is a coming-of-age story but while these normally feature awkward fumbles with love or boys bonding as friends for the first time, this one takes a darker reality which is the first impact of consequences and the point where playing goes beyond that. In this case we see it in the actions of the older, tougher Marine boy as he takes things too far but he as a person is at least ready for that and embracing it whereas our main character has this forced upon him and, as we see, is not really ready to make that leap. As a film it works well as a short because it delivers without dialogue and in a very rushed and simple manner – there is not a lot of time for detail here but in fairness the images are telling and well placed.

Speaking of images the film looks great; the cinematography is roundly very good, looking crisp and wholesome when required but also delivering a more gritty feel when it fits – it is an obvious device perhaps, but it works well. The lack of dialogue doesn't hurt too much either because the music and general sound design is effective – again a bit straightforward in what it does, but it still works. Ellis is very good as the lead boy too, he is the right bit of casting here as he rides that line well and convinces no matter where his character is.

It may be straightforward in some ways but it is still very well put together and I appreciated that it is essentially a coming of age story but is set in a darker place than most of the genre.