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★★★★
Directed by: Daniel J. Brant
Starring: Francesca L. White, Reuben Williams, Richard Usher, Dean Williams, and Jason Melrose
Short Film Review by: Niall Maggs
The job of an assassin appears to be quite lonely. You can’t share your occupation with anyone; it has to be secret, you don’t get the same opportunities as most normal people, and trying to keep a relationship is damn difficult - this is what we learn in Daniel J. Brant’s exciting 20 minute action film - and it also happens to be quite good fun as well!
Cleo (Francesca L. White) is an assassin who uses her martial arts and weapon skills to execute targets with flair and style. She attempts to juggle a date and an assignment at the same time, and at the same place. This makes for some great humour and a light tone which ensures Dead Meet is a blast from start to finish.
The action choreography is done splendidly well, with exciting sequences and Bourne-like fighting. The bathroom scene in particular was done brilliantly and to great quality; it was quite basic, but very effective and definitely got the job done!
The acting from Reuben Williams, who plays Cleo’s date, is a bit wooden (whether this was the actor’s intentions is unclear) however his character is still a great inclusion in the story, and makes for some hilarious lines, especially the last one...
My only other issue with Dead Meet is it’s plot - or lack of it. While it’s understandable why there would be a lack of narrative due to the short runtime, however there is still enough time to incorporate more story, rather than just action. It’s not particularly clear what the villain had done - so whether he was a villain or just another target is never really disclosed; I was left somewhat clueless as to why she was assigned to kill him in the first place!
The music can feel somewhat out of place in a couple scenes, the end credits are quite over the top due to the loud blaring music, which kind of takes away from the great animation featured. But the majority of the music is used to great effect, feels quite natural, and works well within the genre.
Dead Meet works well as a 20-minute short film. It has some great action and decent dialogue due to a solid script written by Brant, and Cleo is a pure badass!
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