The Reveal

The Reveal is a structurally inventive short film with many metatextual aspects. The piece begins with dramatic voiceover and pretty skyline shots of a figure standing on the roof of a building. But then, swiftly, there’s a shift focus, tone and aesthetic. It’s revealed that the voice we’ve been hearing is in fact the voice of, perhaps, a screenwriter or producer, pitching a concept to an executive in an office building. What proceeds, then, is a constantly fluctuating narrative relating to how we build an engaging story... or that’s what it seems. There’s a twist ending to this movie which is incredibly impressive and recontextualises the purpose of the whole short.

I’m going to begin by getting some technical reservations out of the way. In terms of shot construction and sequencing, this is not the best directed movie. If one were to point to one obvious element which is lacking, it might be the camera blocking. Unfortunately, this movie constantly breaks the 180-degree rule without seemingly any ultimate purpose. In the back and white scenes (containing our two characters discussing the practicalities of the story), we’ll have shots that cut from the right side of one character’s shoulder to the right side of the other character, completely disrupting the viewing experience and leaving the viewer visually confused. Learning blocking is a skill which comes with a lot of experience, and it’s difficult to perfect. While there are no rules, if there’s one cinematic concept that these filmmakers should consult, it’s the 180-degree rule.

Without a doubt, the strongest characteristic of The Reveal is the scenario and screenplay. For only around six minutes in length, this is a superbly written script. It’s funny, perceptive, and somehow manages to pull the wool over our eyes and quite methodically reveal it’s true, and rather amusing, intentions. Without going into specific details, the gradual twist of the film relates to the idea that these two modes of storytelling we’re seeing – this cinematic thread of a furious killer; this production consultation – are in fact not as disparate in nature as we might have first thought. In fact, in the early moments, it’s an effective point of reflexive comedy to cut between the mundanity of the monotonous office space to the flashy Hollywood feel of the other. And yet, to then go ahead and blend these approaches so impactfully – our black and white world even fades into colour – whilst also imparting more fascinating information about the characters in play, is an admirable structural achievement.

To surmise, this is a successful short film. It finds an effective method of conveying its core concept, and leaves audiences satisfied by the mind-blowing conclusion. Not only that, but within this film resides a spirit of fun from beginning to end. Writer-director Rakib Miah manages to cinematic conventions that we as viewers recognise and turns them on their heads. Despite what you may think, that’s quite a challenging thing to accomplish – but this movie does it. In parts, the film is technically unsound; however, the positives most certainly conquer the negatives.