Curtain Call

A short comedy drama from Australia directed by Harrison Winter Altmann, written by Altmann and Imogen Fennessy and starring Gary Samolin, Roxanne Halley, Shawn Richard, Kiara Ariza Stellato and Huw Jennings.

It is opening night at a community theatre and the cast and crew are busy getting ready for the big show. Among them is seasoned actor Grant (Samolin), who makes things difficult for others with his unkind behaviour, criticizing those around him and playing the superior. As he walks around the theatre and backstage, he encounters a variety of characters, including Bella (Halley), the stage manager, Tommy (Richard), a young actor trying to balance his work in the theatre with his coursework and Laura (Stellato) and Kyle (Jennings), two performers who are in a relationship. These poor people have to endure Grant's demands and rude comments.

Perhaps the aspect that stands out the most is that this film was filmed in one continuous take lasting just under twenty minutes and the result is quite impressive, be it the strong performances or the creative camerawork that primarily involves following Grant through the theatre. Regarding the screenplay, it does a good job exploring the characters and maintaining an intriguing story. Since the plot takes place inside a theatre, with the cast and crew as protagonists who are getting ready for a play, one might think of the 2014 Academy Award-winning feature Birdman, the entirety of which was made to appear as one long take. Fans of this feature are likely to appreciate the creativity in Curtain Call, whose music also resembles that of Birdman, mostly because of the drums.

If one was to state something negative regarding this short, it would probably be hard to think of one. The acting is superb, the screenplay is strong and it was filmed very skilfully. It would be difficult to imagine how this project could had been better.

Samolin is the main protagonist and he plays a narcissistic and inconsiderate ageing actor, who does not think twice when it comes to saying what he is thinking, with complete disregard for how he affects other people's feelings. He values his profession and believes he is better than everyone else. Stellato and Jennings stand out as performers who are also a couple, although their relationship is unstable and they argue quite a bit. Regarding Richard, he comes across as kind of quiet and reserved, a guy for whom theatre might not be a passion.

Narcissism is a major theme in this story and so is self-reflection and relationships and prospects are also involved. From a different perspective, the film provides an insight into the lives of actors and what working in a theatre is like.

It could be argued that this film focuses primarily on character study rather than the plot and that works very well. The strong acting, the creative and impressive camerawork and the themes make this short a work of great standards.