Dosed

Two young women deal with a dead body inside a nightclub.

This short dark comedy has various things that make it enjoyable. First, it has quite a plot: Florence (Dilworth) and Polly (Neath) are two young women friends who find themselves in deep trouble after they spike the drink of a young guy (Barber) at a nightclub. The morning after, the club is empty, apart from Polly and the stranger, who appears to be dead. Soon Florence arrives and stumbles into the scene. Now the two of them try to figure out how to get themselves out of this mess and things get further complicated with the arrival of Florence's housemate, Tabitha (Phull).

Another plus are the amusing performances by Dilworth and Neath and the dark humour. The two heroines are in a situation where they will either cover their tracks or face going to prison and their actions and behaviour are unexpected for such a situation. Florence is jumpy and does her best not to panic and Polly maintains her cool, uses sarcasm and seems to be oblivious to the seriousness of what they are dealing with. They discuss how to get rid of the body and dispose of any evidence and take drugs to feel better. When Tabitha appears, the three of them get into a quarrel regarding each other's flaws and the issue with the deceased person is pushed aside.

Other aspects that give this film the thumbs up are Amber Stanley's beautiful cinematography and the creative lighting techniques. There is a brief sequence that involves the administration of illegal drugs which bears similarities to Requiem for a Dream due to the fast cutting editing techniques by Sam Rutter. Going to the audio, the song Wake Up by Ellisse, Paranoid JC, J.S and DJ Piero that is played at the beginning and the end was a good choice.

If there is a negative thing to point out, then that might be the ending, as the film finishes on a cliffhanger and some viewers could find that disappointing.

On a more serious note, this short could be viewed as a warning about drink spiking and taking drugs.

This is a comedic story about the aftermath of an accidental death and the perpetrators' efforts to handle it. The plot and clever dialogue, along with Dilworth and Neath's energetic acting make this a fun experience, which also has some drama.