Fugue

A woman is on the run from a dangerous crime boss.

Mia (Williams) is a small-time criminal in London, doing odd jobs for gangsters here and there. One night, she is tasked with delivering drugs to a household. However, things go terribly bad, ending up in murder and she flees the scene along with Naz (Russell), an associate of the crooks. One of the victims was a relative of feared crime lord Kane (Halpenny) and now Mia must keep running in order to stay ahead or her pursuer.

This rather intriguing and dark short seems to be a combination between the neo-noir and urban neo-Western genres. Regarding the neo-noir elements, Mia is an antiheroine, a criminal who has gotten herself into a life-threatening situation and armed with a gun and a sharp brain, she plans her (and Naz's) escape. The film begins with a voice-over containing harsh words and the story involves criminals, murder, drugs and a significant part takes place at a cemetery at night-time. As for the Western elements, Kane's character adds quite a bit to that, by him being the antagonist, with an accent that matches characters in such films and his clothing also belongs in that place, most notably his footwear and bolo tie. Also, the climax involves an event that is a signature of Westerns.

Mia and Kane make quite interesting protagonists. Played dramatically by Williams, Mia is aware of her situation and the world and she is a loner, a woman who used to be associated with Kane and after disappearing from his sight, she now lives in the shadows. She also appears to be superstitious, as she believes that the appearance of a fox means that danger is coming. Having a death stare and placing blood in his mouth, Kane is quite a character and is portrated with great menace by Halpenny. He is a murderous, psychopathic and vengeful man and his presence steals the show. Russell's character more or less acts like a sidekick to Mia, a lowlife who unwillingly found herself in deep trouble and is trying to survive.

One of the strongest aspects of this short is Paul Bellon de Chassy's stunning cinematorgraphy that contributes in creating a dark atmopshere throughout. Composer David Denyer further supports the sinister scenes filled with tension with the thumping electronic score.

A neo-noir, an urban neo-Western and a female buddy film. The story, cinematography, characters and performances raise the quality very high and result in a tense and dramatic crime thriller about survival and murder.