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★★
Directed by: #VincenzoNappi
Starring: #CatherineSaindon, #HanaKashaf
This short film is a modern take on a zombie-like pandemic. Alex is found in the toilets of a heavy metal concert, clinging to the bowl as her lifeline as she throws up last night’s dinner and maybe even the night before! She manages to pull herself away from the toilet and the audience notice blood dripping down her mouth and clothes, she soon discovers a huge bite on her arm which looked gruesome and exceptionally realistic! Her friend waits outside the door, trying to console Alex by offering food and a shoulder to cry on. However, Alex soon realises as she attempts to chow down on her snack that it is not food she craves, but human flesh.
The film opens to an aerial shot of the toilet bowl filled with unspeakable horrors as the heavy thud of the metal concert resonates in the background. This was an extremely long take, a lot of the shots throughout this short film could have been cut down significantly. Alex enters the bathroom and hangs over the toilet; this scene took up a large majority of the film.
First Bite had great opportunities to explain or feed into the story a lot more, it felt as though too much time was spent on the character repeating the same action and not enough time was spent on developing a well-rounded story line and adding more context behind each scene. There were many unanswered questions, why is she throwing up? How did Alex get bitten? Who by? There could have been a simple shot of Alex enjoying the music or caught within the mayhem of the crowds, this would have really created a more in-depth narrative, as well as broken up the bathroom scene, as this quickly became monotonous.
As Alex breaks away from the toilet, she looks down at her arm and notices a huge bite with blood seeping out of it. The make-up was extremely gory and could easily turn your stomach over, establishing First Bite firmly within the horror genre. Director Vincenzo Nappi did not shy away from the grotesque, as Alex learns her hunger pangs were craving something far meatier. The film ends with Alex devouring her friend on the bathroom floor. Ripping into her flesh with her bare teeth, leaving a bitter taste in the viewers mouth as blood and guts are spread across the screen. This was an enticing and thrilling ending and left the audience wanting more. It would be interesting to see this short grow into a feature film so that the story can evolve further.
First Bite has the potential to develop into something terrifying. To end on the most climactic part of the story has both positive and negative results. It is a great way to captivate and leave the viewer on a high, however, it also leaves open a wide variety of unanswered questions. Some of these questions would have made for an intriguing plot which the director could have explored.
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