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★
Directed by: #JonathanHawes
Written by: #JonathanHawes
Cast: #MattHawes
Hairball is a strange piece of film. It reminds me of those jarring, edited photographs of the razor in the eye kids would share to group chats in order to spook one another, make them feel uncomfortable.
Not quite the unheimlich, not quite body horror, somewhere stuck between the two trying to distinguish itself from the hoard. The twist of the hairball come to life does bring with it a whacky element, but all in all, Hairball doesn’t really hit home with any of the themes it juggles. A touch here and dabble there, but not enough to draw in a crowd of one particular genre.
The lighting is clean and the camera work is steady—some amateurish acting, but that is to be expected. As for the plot, there isn’t much of one. Neither is there a reasoning behind why the sudden hairball is so…sudden. Perhaps a manifestation of anxiety personified as something alien in the body—hair that shouldn’t be in your throat. Maybe it’s a direct inspiration of the saying: “A frog in your throat” when you’re nervous or unprepared during a presentation.
Either way, Hairball doesn’t offer much in the ways of plot or nuances, but it’s a film that’s on the nose with its title, so what was promised is delivered—even if it is unsightly.
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