Place Of Safety

Place Of Safety is a seven-and-a-half-minute short film revolving around the nature of depression. It takes place, seemingly, in a hospital or a mental institution – somewhere which is supposedly designated as a ‘Place Of Safety’ – and then follows the thoughts of a patient (Compton) as they relate life through their own lens. The short film was created on an iPhone with, as writer, director, editor, producer and star, Fanni Compton says, ‘NO lights, NO tripod and NO assistance’ and was produced within the space of twenty-four hours.

Fanni Compton is, according to their bio, just one of the alter-egos donned by the content creator of Place Of Safety, and in watching some of the other posts and shorts from their YouTube channel, it’s no surprise that today’s offering chooses to highlight some of the more violent and profane aspects of depression. Fanni seems to revel in puerile, adolescent humour, as well as what they seem to consider ‘shock value’, as they put on accents and voices and pretend to be someone else as they swear and talk dirty to the camera. All of this bleeds through into Place Of Safety, where the hallways are filled with horrifying screams, the showers run with blood and the patient doesn’t get any better in the end, with the film doing its best to stylise the mental hospital into something that it’s not.

In fact, it’s hard to find where any of the depression espoused in the voiceover of Place Of Safety really rings true at all. Whereas in something like Depression Is A Beast (2024), Jenna Kanell talks through the lifelong shadow companion she has had with her, and the way it has shaped and coloured the judgements and choices in her life, with Horror coming through as a voice and a role for how she feels, which is then able to act as a form of therapy – Place Of Safety has none of that. Instead, what we’re given is a heavily stylised eulogy, shot through with pretentious philosophical musings which go nowhere and mean nothing, all tied together with an undercurrent of showmanship which is inextricably linked to the promotion of ego. While Place Of Safety may well be a cry for help, is does not bear fruit as an expression of clinical depression.

On top of all this, the ‘NO lights, NO tripod, NO assistance’ diktat undertaken by Compton has severely hindered the outcome of the visuals we see on screen. In fairness, the photography is absolutely fine in terms of what is trying to be expressed, the editing, direction and sound are all well handled for someone with no industry experience, and even the special effects are well chosen and well placed throughout the narrative. However, what we get is mainly the same three shots, or motifs, repeated liberally, with some effects put on top to supposedly offer some sort of progression. It’s not visually stimulating for the viewer, and when tied to the proselytising voiceover, really makes you want to switch it off, if you haven’t already.

It is definitely a creative feat and an indication of will that Place Of Safety was shot and put together by one person in twenty-four hours on an iPhone. Unfortunately, what we get is nothing in the realms of Tangerine (2015) or Unsane (2018) which both undertook similar production considerations, and instead we’re left with a damp squib of a video best left unseen on an out of the way YouTube channel.