Seen

A short horror film written and directed by Dhwani Shah and starring Kausar Mohammed, Sushant Adlakha and Jeff Ronan.

Noori (Mohammed) is a young Indian woman living in the United States and working as a driver. One night, she has a passenger, a young British man (Ronan) who behaves inappropriately and she throws him out. Then she discovers that he left a bag behind that contains a vintage camera and after using the device she finds out that it possesses sinister powers.

A creepy and tense horror story with a haunted object concept. The film works very well with the intriguing plot and the frightful atmosphere, utilising jump scares and darkness to great effect as well as ominous and unsettling music by Ashwin Syam. The screenplay focuses primarily on Noori's psychological deterioration as she begins to see things including terrifying faces and figures in the dark and she gets more and more desperate as these occurrences become increasingly frequent.

As good as this short is, perhaps it could had been even better if the screenplay could had explored Ronan's character more thoroughly, explaining who he is exactly and also some backstory regarding the mysterious camera would probably had made the story more fulfilling.

As the plot centres on Noori, the unfortunate heroine, Mohammed's performance is essential in order for the film to have an effect and she absolutely succeeds at that, creating a simple person who is tormented by supernatural forces, gradually losing her sanity and sense of security. Ronan pulls it off as a creepy guy who makes unwelcomed advances towards Noori and Adlakha is sympathetic as Noori's acquaintance, a likeable photographer who tries to help her.

Paranoia, terror, stalking and vulnerability are explored themes here. Additionally, this project was completed by a women-led team and one of its goals is to provide an insight into the theory that women and especially women of colour, tend to live in fear, believing that they are being watched and followed and therefore constantly feel threatened.

From one perspective, this is a short supernatural psychological horror film that offers a fifteen-minute viewing experience filled with dread and fright. From another point of view it acknowledges that women can feel vulnerable in a world that can be dangerous and that adds significant value to it.