Mani Mani Baby

Mani Mani Baby is a strangely amusing, but noticeably inconsistent, short film by writer-director Stacy Pendergrast. We are introduced to a chaotic and slightly distressed writer. On her way to a reading, she’s desperately in need of a manicure. This leads to the central scenario of the film, which is our flustered yet overconfident protagonist interacting with the employees and customers in the salon.

The first thing to say about the piece is that it both looks and sounds very professional. The cinematography is really well-considered; and whilst some could claim that there is an excess of handheld camera, one does not find it distracting. There’s a finished look about it consisting of a strong grade. And pretty much every dialogue setup – despite issues I have with the story – is logically coordinated in terms of camera placement. This is a sign that, no matter what its flaws, the work is strong on a visual level.

There’s an incredibly odd theme present in the movie, but unfortunately you struggle to interpret it as a viewer. I don’t mean to say that the film becomes difficult to understand, because everything is quite functional; but you do question what the overall intentionality of the script is. For instance, should we find the film’s protagonist annoying? If we do, then we feel conflicted when the character makes good or admirable arguments. On the other hand, there’s a possibility that the audience will view the movie as trying to represent people who care about political issues – for instance the ‘exploitation’ of the employees – as overbearing or oblivious; and then the irony that arises when not all the facts are known (the reveal of the employee ordering take-out).

It’s all very complicated, and I’m compelled to view the movie as being a comedic portrayal of all these different personas and ideas. Yet when it comes to comedy, or even satire, the scenario may require slightly more clarity in the writing stages to make the end product translate fully. This may be counter-intuitive, but in fact this is actually the kind of narrative which could benefit from the use of caricatures: by implementing slightly clichéd character traits into a comedic short, it may allow you to more quickly and efficiently establish people’s dynamics and personas – it's at that point that you can play with these expectations to make something even more clever and funny than Mani Mani Baby already is.

I must clarify that individual moments and interactions in the movie work really well. Some of the set-ups and payoffs are genuinely thought-provoking and funny. A lot of this is thanks to the confident direction which really demonstrates innate ability when it comes to the rhythms of a scene and how to construct it in staging terms. But it's also a result of the appropriately big acting on display – all the performances are thoroughly entertaining. There’s a great deal to enjoy about Mani Mani Baby, for its central premise is certainly an original one. What we can see are some skilled artists and filmmakers in the making as the film is a commendable effort.