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Directed by Keif Gwinn, Phillip Crosby, Christian Ancliff
Starring Tom Daplyn, Keif Gwinn, Anthea Neagle, Kelly Rowden, Christian Ancliff and Egle Dovydaityte
Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen
We all have them, those little compulsions that we do that satisfy our brain no end, but there are some of us who, no matter what they do, cannot find such satisfaction.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is hell, true OCD I mean, not the kind that your buddy has because they like their books in a certain order or have to make their cup of tea a particular way, no that’s called taste, true OCD consumes your life, tears you between logic and an overwhelming fear of what will happen if these thoughts, desires even, are not completed, it controls its victims without apology.
Compulsive is the short film submission to the sci fi London 48 hour film festival, and tackles the subject of OCD, we open on a young man who is displaying some of the most common forms of OCD, washing his hands, turning on and off lights etc but he also has another compulsion...numbers.
Numerology in OCD or symmetry obsession with ordering, is the fourth most common type of obsessive compulsion, and our leading role is fully invested into this, taking two dice he rolls a double five which to him signifies that he can leave his home, and we as an audience begin to understand.
On doing so he takes to the streets, where when faced with any others numbers, be they on buildings, signs and so on, he rolls his dice, yet his dice rolling antics seem to get him not into trouble but more as a helpful stranger, he helps civilians left right and centre, observing and protecting them and his precious dice.
This film is deeply powerful to anyone who has suffered at the hands of this disease [take it from me who has suffered from OCD since I was a very young child], our character shows no worries about how odd he may look rolling dice on the pavement of a busy street, he does not care, he can’t care, he simply must carry out what his brain desires, he is a victim of his own mind.
Our leading man Tom Daplyn plays the role with great intensity, although he seems composed at times he still conveys a sense of worry and anguish in the way he carries himself, you feel the tension rising out of him even as he simply walks the street, making for a powerful representation of how sufferers may feel.
Professional looking, sounding as well as executed, Compulsive is an interesting and engaging short which leaves the audience wanting more and more from this tale.
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