★★★★ Directed by: #ValentinaGaldi Written by: #ValentinaGaldi Starring: #GianniDAmato, #AntonioMoscatiello, #AlessiaPetrone Short Film Review by: Emily Davison Vito (Gianni D’Amato) has been undergoing therapy and takes drugs for mental disorders, but a new self-awareness overcomes him when he realises the visions and voices he has been experiencing are an integral part of his life in this compelling drama. MEMORIE SBIADITE (Faded Memories) (2020) is an indie short film directed by Italian filmmaker Valentina Galdi, released on The Gladiator Company’s YouTube channel, an independent film production company conceived of by Galdi herself. The film has received positive critical reception since its release; shortlisted at the Cinephilia Flair International Film Festival and winning Best Drama at the New Normal International Film Festival. The short is well realised in its abstract, deeply psychological concept and direction, with a distinct entrancing visual style to its aesthetic. The film has a wonderfully illusory, visceral quality with a largely enigmatic, yet cognizant protagonist fronting the narrative and presenting an absorbing examination on the effects of mental health on one’s consciousness. Galdi directs with confidence and nuance, allowing the performers to control the pacing of sequences and expertly visualising what it is like to be inside the conflicting mind of our lead. As stated by Galdi, the film romantics the ‘voice in mind’ phenomenon and there is an interesting stylistic choice to desaturate the scenes where we are taken into the confines of the protagonist’s mental state, which highlight the surreal contemplative nature of the film and its relevant humane themes. D’Amato as Vito delivers an authentic, captivating performance and embodies the sensitive, intriguing character effortlessly. Galdi’s engrossing screenplay offers him the spotlight when he delivers a fascinating monologue about the tendencies of people to hide behind positive facades to mask their true struggles. Although it is easy to perceive the character as ‘crazy’ due to his rambles, the richness of the dialogue causes him to appear very sane and even wise as he explains how he perceives the meanings of the visions he sees. D’Amato is able to smoothly portray emotional vulnerability through subtle facial expressions and passionate line delivery, making for a grounded and believable performance. Moscatiello as Vito’s friend provides the voice of reason and a supportive companion for the lead to express his differing feelings to. The character is involved in a memorable cliff hanger of sorts to the short, which adds another layer of intrigue and mystery to the film and certainly makes for a chilling final freeze frame. Man Tau’s musical score is deservedly worth a mention for its hypnotising, mesmerising guitar and synth pieces which include a repetitive motif throughout the short. The music carries the emotional elements of the story with its melancholic, reflective tone and perfectly represents the equally as repetitive nature of Vito’s visions and voices in his head. MEMORIE SBIADITE is a superbly executed short drama exploring the intricacies of mental health and its mature, self-awareness presented through confident direction and a powerful performance from its lead make this film deserving of all its given praise. #EmilyDavison

★ Directed by: #MarkDenham Written by: #MarkDenham & #ElinMargaretaNordin Starring: #JonProphet, #PamelaHanson, #KenStamp, #JasonYip Film Review by Taryll Baker Once upon a time, a boy and a girl met. They like torture, pain and screams. If you like grimy, messed up murder dramas that lack any amount of real meaning or feeling, Toy Box Killers is your best choice. Structurally fatiguing, with very little character depth or intrigue, this barbaric flick from filmmaker Mark Denham plays on what I presume to be an itch for bloody and torturous stories. In creating this feature-length grim tale of two crazed killers, he uses incredibly low-budget techniques — if you could call it that — to capture all the action. Disappointingly, it’s hard to tell if this is meant to be filmed with a documentary/fly-on-the-wall style, or it’s just an unintentional blocking nightmare. Characters, beyond their lacking personalities, feel awfully lifeless due to the camerawork, the forced script and the mostly poor delivery by the actors. There are some scenes where the performances come across fairly decent, but for the most part, this is a painful viewing experience. To expand on this; the torture scenes are just ludicrous. I understand the goal is to bring out a feeling of unease, an uncomfortable energy. While this does happen, it’s born out of all the wrong reasons. The aforementioned script damages the execution of these scenes to a degree that makes the entire film, to put it plainly, boring. Toy Box Killers is like a student film that was put together as practice for an end-of-year grade, with plenty of expected notes and criticism. It feels like Denham is a fan of Natural Born Killers and wanted to make his own murderous rampage film, except the latter managed to do a better job in all aspects. Where that had exciting visuals with an insane number of cuts in the edit, and interesting characters — which made the film more entertaining for a wider audience — Toy Box Killers has laughable writing and cringe-worthy performances. Unfortunately, even the technical features add a heavier toll; the sound is haphazardly recorded and compiled, the edit is uninteresting, and the music chopped in wherever they felt it was necessary, to no affect. It’s expected that a film focusing on torture would be a hard watch, but this was undoubtedly one of the most torturous experiences I’ve had watching a film. Watch the trailer for Toy Box Killers below. #TaryllBaker

★ Directed by: Sylvain White Written by: Lois Duncan, Michael D. Weiss Starring: Brooke Nevin, Ben Easter, Torrey DeVitto and David Paetkau Throwback Film Review by: Rachel Pullen I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer Movie Review After watching this film, I did something...I googled the eight elements of filmmaking, and sure you could say I should know them by heart considering I do this thing where I write about films, but hey my brain is full of other things, like the names of all the generation 1 My Little Ponies. And why did I do that you may ask, well I had watched something so bad, so lacking in direction, that I believe not one of those basic elements had been met…so let us talk about I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. This film follows the story of four teens who decided that after the fisherman killings from the previous films they would prank their fellow chums at the carnival and stage a fake killing which appears to be done by our rain slicker, hook-wielding pal, but things go very badly wrong when the dude who was playing the victim misses the drop point and falls on to a tractor, killing him on site…the kids are like “aw fuck”, bolt, have a campfire and vow, like the teens before them, to never talk about what happened that summer…how fresh, how innovative…said no one ever. And as you can guess, the teens, one year later, are hounded by texts and notes, someone knows what they did last summer and is pissed, so they all meet up again to try and protect themselves from the stalker. Of course, our fishy friend takes them out one by one and the teens feel more and more backed into a corner until it results in a showdown with the killer, only wait…the fisherman seems to not go down, not by bullet or stab wound, why? What’s going on? Oh, he is the zombie version of the fisherman from the previous films, cool. No…not cool, you must tell us how the zombified body of a dead fisherman was able to come into the land of the living and start killing a bunch of teens…how? But apparently, we, as viewers just must accept that and move on, who cares how he got there or how bad he smells, the point is that he is there, otherwise who else is gonna kill these teens? As you can tell plot and character development was not covered, in fact, audio was poor and cinematography took on the style of that dreadful film Feardotcom, whereby the directors think having some flashy, jarring edits to the shots will create more impactful jump scares, no it just hurts the human eyes, can you see why I looked up the elements of film now?! Yes, it had come to my attention within the first 20 minutes of this film that it was going to be bad, not even bad enough that you can consider it good, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer is just another lazy teen slasher flick devised to cash in on a popular genre at the time. But let’s not be a Debbie downer, what can we take away from this film? What did I have to hold on to during the whole 92 minutes it ran for? Ok first, that early 2000 fashion. This flick is rich in some classics, wide belts, fedoras, beads, yeah, it’s a wild ride for the costume department. Hollywood attempts at dressing a goth chick make a fun appearance again, always one of my fav challenges for the fashion team, so close but so far…quality. And as well as that you could always use this film as a blueprint on how not to make a film. I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer is a tool for any upcoming horror filmmaker, watch this flick, do not do what this flick did, and you should be on your way to making something successful. So here we are kids, what a wild time it has been, we have learnt so much, like how fish and murder go together, how crimes in the summer are never forgiven, and how if you run over a fisherman you better believe he isn’t gonna let that go any time soon. Oh and, how did the zombie version of the fisherman have the capabilities to send message and texts to the teens? Does he have a ghost phone and ghost stationery? So many unanswered questions guess I am off to kill a fisherman and await his ghost to find out. #RachelPullen

★★★ Directed by: Evan Jacobs Written by: Evan Jacobs Starring: Micheal J. Vogelsang, Austin Hua, Carlos Ortega, Angelique Flores, Carolyn Giardini Film Review by: Jason Knight For three middle school boys, their plans to have some fun is going to result in a suspenseful, sinister and dramatic night. Gerry, Bryan and Erol are three student friends, who live in Spring Valley, California. The summer holidays are almost over and they want to make the most of their remaining free time. Much to their delight, two girls from school invite them to a party. Later that day, the three boys are at the house of Jerry, whose parents are away. There is a serial killer on the loose called 'Ghost', so when they spot a sinister-looking car outside in the neighborhood, they attack the driver and bring him in the house, believing him to be the murderer. The driver is a young man named Thomas, who denies being the culprit and he ends up befriending the boys and he drives them to the party. What follows is an unusual and dangerous series of events. This animated feature operates as a suspenseful thriller and a coming-of-age story. It explores themes of student life, romance, self-discovery and also dark areas such as crime. The animation was done utilizing a Mac computer and it looks simple, like drawings that could had been done by children the same age as the protagonists and that is not a bad thing, as that way the film provides the feeling that it is about simple boys. Generally, the characters, environments and colors are plain, kind of like South Park. There are also brief live-action sequences throughout. They appear when the heroes are on the move outdoors and they seem to be point-of-view shots from them as they walk on the pavement of look outside through a moving vehicle. The footage also appears old, scratched and damaged, giving the impression that it was filmed decades ago, which works well, as the plot is set during the eighties. As far as the voice acting goes, there does not seem to be much emotion. It is not clear how the characters are feeling, because the tone and quality of their voices more or less remains the same, regardless of what they are going through. Also, the voices of the students do not sound like they belong to people their age. It should be pointed out that there are adult themes, such as crime and prostitution and there are scenes of violence, murder and profanity. The strongest element that Cool Summer possesses is suspense. Who is Thomas? Is he the killer? Will he end up harming the boys? He is also the most intruiging character and the others come no way near. This animated feature is an interesting achievement that is worth pursuing. #JasonKnight

★★ Directed by #EddieHuang Written by #EddieHuang Starring #TaylorTakahashi #TaylourPaige Film Review by George Wolf What's the greatest moment in Asian-American history? According to Alfred "Boogie" Chin's father, it's Micheal Chang's upset of Ivan Lendl in the 1989 French Open final. And though Boogie's sport is basketball, the Chin family is hoping some similar court magic will take them all the way to the NBA. And that's the first trouble sign with writer/director Eddie Huang's first feature. From what we see on the court, the idea that Boogie (Taylor Takahashi in his screen debut) is good enough to play in college - let alone the NBA - is laughable. Wisely, Huang keeps the in-game action to a minimum, focusing instead on the pressures of an Asian teen who must shoulder the burden of being his family's savior while coming of age in Queens, New York. Boogie transferred to City Prep High School, so a high-profile showdown with Brooklyn phenom "Monk" (rapper/musician Pop Smoke, is his last role before his tragic murder last year) would help land a college scholarship. But so far, the scouts aren't promising anything more than walk-on opportunities. The opportunities with Eleanor (Taylor Paige, so good in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and the clear standout in this cast) are looking much brighter. As the big game draws near and the "manager" Mom hired makes things even more tense at home, Boogie leans on Eleanor for a quiet sense of comfort. Huang (creator of TV's "Fresh Off the Boat") throws out some solid ideas, but his attempts to develop them stop at vague generalities. Much like the hooping talent, the cultural struggle of the Chin family is told more than shown, never giving us a reason to get emotionally involved. And if you're going to cast a completely inexperienced actor as your lead, why not someone who's actually a basketball talent? Still, even without the inexplicable basketball charade, the coming-of-age drama here is only G league material. Huang may yet prove he got game, but it's going to take some work in the film room. #GeorgeWolf

★★★ Directed by: Adam Taufiq Suharto Written by: Adam Taufiq Suharto Starring: Luqman Nasaruddin, Sadiq M. Jamil Film Review by: Vikas Yadav The chair creaks ominously as an editor fidgets while going through one of the videos sent to him. A brief shot of four sticky notes informs us about his deadlines. His desktop wallpaper screams “GET SHIT DONE” to keep him motivated for his work. That doesn’t prevent him from taking a break from his computer screen. However, as soon as he gets comfortable lying on his bed in peace, a politician’s voice from a video hits his consciousness with a stick. What does he say? The poor are poor because they are not productive. This touches the editor’s “productive juice,” and he sits again to continue his work on the video. He does not plan on being poor in this life. It’s hard to pack Adam Taufiq Suharto’s Gelora in a specific genre when it refuses to stay in the same lane. You think it’s about this editor and his work, but when he notices “something” in the video, Gelora turns into a thriller. Suharto smartly keeps this “something” blur, allowing us to fill in the blanks with every horrid detail possible. The black-and-white aesthetic adds to the mystery. This color palette also puts style in normal activities like smoke escaping from the tip of a cigarette. Suharto is a visual storyteller. During the thriller portion, we watch a man in a suit buried under the weight of files and folders. Is he conveying that the corporate employees don’t create anything - to steal the word from the politician - productive? Most likely. Suharto merges the clock, and the editor in one frame to either indicate how time-consuming video editing is or to bring out the corporateness in the editor’s work (they too sweat in front of their computers and have to complete the task before a particular time). Gelora is adapted from a short story named Footage, which according to an interview, was also written by Suharto himself. In this short film, the director goes meta and references his writing by inserting the pages (at least the title page) on the floor of the editor’s house. Gelora becomes distracting when it employs ostentatious tricks like the moment where a shot of the waves is permeated over the editor’s face as he wrestles to make a decision. It’s a bit too much. Since we are on the waves. Suharto could have surrendered to the force of the water (go for a cliché), but he fights it and tries swimming in the opposite direction (went for something different). Gelora is not without its flaws, yet it deserves a look.

★★★ Directed by: #NataschaGraham Written by: #NataschaGraham Starring: #MarieWilson Film Review by: Isabelle Ryan How She Kills is a short, simple monologue about surviving an abusive relationship. Performed by Marie Wilson, it explores a woman’s experience with her narcissistic ex-partner, and her eventual escape from a situation that left her feeling depressed and hopeless. It is delivered in one take directly to the camera, with a plain background and no soundtrack. As such, Wilson’s performance has to carry the film, which it does, admirably. She is expressive and convincing, and she makes her character’s story very compelling. Her performance elevates the unfortunately lacklustre script. The monologue is mostly expository. There are no complex or interesting writing choices – and in fact many choices feel trite and familiar – no moments that allow the audience to deduce further information, nothing beyond a factual, if emotional, account of the protagonist’s experience. There is nothing wrong with this, of course; this is a serious topic, and survivors deserve stories that are authentic. However, as a piece of creative writing, as a dramatic monologue, it fails to be gripping by itself. Wilson, aided only by a piece of paper for a prop, makes it worth watching, but alone it may not be worth reading. In the film, the protagonist’s ex-partner is explicitly called a narcissist. There is no implication that she was violent, but rather an overbearing, manipulative, controlling abuser, who took every opportunity to gaslight and demean the protagonist. The script at times feels like an educational resource on how to discern if a person has narcissistic personality disorder, complete with a list of behaviours, and the protagonist’s announcement towards the end of the film that she has decided to share her story in order to help others who might be going through something similar. This disorder is real, and the topic is too complex to be fully explored in such a short space of time, but that is not the purpose of How She Kills. We are focused on the story of someone who has survived an abusive relationship, not the story of how or why someone became an abuser. There is little else to say about How She Kills. It works as a monologue, as a controlled, effective piece of acting, while being let down by an unimaginative script. It also tackles a very important issue, and for that it does deserve praise.

★ Directed by #JacobJohnston Written by #JacobJohnston Starring #NikkiRoss #ZacharyGordon Film Review by Brandon Thomas The music world and the horror world have a simpatico relationship. The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Phantom of the Paradise are quintessential cool horror rock operas. More recently, Deathgasm – the New Zealand love letter to metal – has gained momentum as a cult classic with its fun mix of gory carnage and shredding guitars. Where does the world of underground DJing fit into this legacy? Well, if Dreamcatcher is any indication, any legacy might be over before it starts. Pierce (Niki Koss) and her friend, Jake (Zachary Gordon), tag along to a hot-ticket underground music fest with Pierce’s sister, Ivy (Elizabeth Posey), and her friend, Brecken (Emrhys Cooper). As the show winds down, tragedy strikes and the friends are thrust into a world of deceit and violence. It’s hard to get excited about slasher flicks these days. Heck, it was hard to get excited about them by the mid-80s. These are movies built on tropes – it’s what the fans expect – and Dreamcatcher is no exception, despite a few clumsy attempts to be something different. The film swings big, trying to be more character-focused. This approach does nothing but put a spotlight on the incredibly weak script, and pad the running time to an excruciating hour and 48 minutes. The parts of the movie that are your standard stalk-and-slash clash with the other side that wants to be something more akin to a 90s thriller (think Kiss the Girls or other Silence of the Lambs wannabes). Director Jacob Johnston handles the slasher elements well. These scenes are shot in a more grounded and brutal fashion. When the story starts to dip its toe into character motivation or anything resembling drama, the suspense falls apart. The characters in Dreamcatcher run the gamut from unlikeable to downright loathsome. Scene after scene of Pierce, Jake, and Ivy airing their petty grievances wear out fast. Dreamcatcher lacks even one character for the audience to latch onto as a surrogate. This ends up making the horror shallow and meaningless. Dreamcatcher might satisfy die hard fans of the slasher genre, but those looking for something a little more challenging will find themselves checking their watches on more than a few occasions. #BrandonThomas

★★★ Directed by #IvanKavanagh Written by #IvanKavanagh Starring #AndiMatichak #EmileHirsch Film Review by Hope Madden Back in 2014, Irish filmmaker Ivan Kavanagh wondered what to do about a dad who may be his son’s only salvation, or may be his one true danger. Canal had a lot going for it—it looked creepy, performances were solid, and it wasn’t afraid to bang up its cast. It just couldn’t quite make the leap from good to great. Same goes for the filmmaker’s latest, Son. We open on a filthy, barefoot, rain-soaked young pregnant woman (Andi Matichak, Halloween) hoping to warm up with a coffee in a roadside diner. Two men walk in, she exits in a hurry. Cut to eight years later. Same woman, clean and wholesome now, buckles in precocious little David (Luke David Blumm) to drop him off at school. They’re adorable. They’re happy, hard-working, loving, and about to face some ugly stuff once Kavanagh establishes the paradise to be lost. An awful lot of movies want to know how far a mother is willing to go to protect the son who may or may not be the real villain. This has been especially true in the last five years. (See The Hole, The Prodigy, Brahms: The Boy 2, Z, Brightburn — it’s a long list.) Does anything set Son apart? Kavanaugh roots the story in hysteria and conspiracy, sketchy memories of a cult versus police reports of sex trafficking. All of it feels mildly of-the-moment, but the real purpose is to throw skepticism toward the seemingly lucid mother and her claims. Which is another common horror trope (is she crazy or is she right?), especially in the subgenre where a mother is trying to figure something out that may or may not be supernatural. So, no, Kavanaugh does not bring much that’s new to the table. Son does boast solid performances, and the filmmaker once again flexes his strong instincts for unsettling locations and atmospheres. The writing, pacing, and imagery all work together as they should to generate anxiety and dread. Son gets gory now and again, too. It just doesn’t do anything you don’t expect it to do. #HopeMadden

★★★★ Directed by: #AmyPoehler Written by: #JenniferMathieu, #TamaraChestna & #DylanMeyer Starring: #HadleyRobinson, #LaurenTsai, #AlyciaPascualPena, #SydneyPark, #NicoHiraga Netflix Film Review by Taryll Baker Fed up with the sexist and toxic status quo at her high school, a shy 16-year-old finds inspiration from her mother's rebellious past and anonymously publishes a zine that sparks a school-wide, coming-of-rage revolution. We’re in a very significant time of our lives right now. We are living what will become history; important history. Women are banding together to push for equal rights, to not be objectified, harassed, or just simply ignored or pushed aside. This isn’t something new, people have been fighting this for many years, but it seems like we are at a boiling point in this climate, alongside other important movements. Some might say these are “woke” times; whether or not you agree with that, it’s undeniably time for change. Netflix’s Moxie is giving their subscribers something to chew on. The opening, which shows a panicked Vivian (Hadley Robinson) screaming — inaudibly — in a bad dream solidly sets up the unfortunate reality of women being unheard; which is the seed that blossoms into a great culmination of women’s worth in this comedy drama from Amy Poehler. Moxie, based upon the novel of the same name, tells the story of 16-year-old Vivian as she begins distributing her own magazine, leaving them in bathrooms, slowly kickstarting a revolution in her school. Though it may seem to some like all problems are rolled into one convenient place for a narrative advantage, I would disagree. I think a lot of the issues shown in this film are a direct reflection of reality and though perhaps dramatised to a heightened level, it’s vital. This is undoubtedly a message piece, something to initiate further discussion and it does its job well. The cast are fantastic. Hadley’s performance as Vivian is well-focused, she draws from the actors around her in every scene, and uses that energy to amplify her character portrayal. Supported by talent such as Sydney Park, Lauren Tsai and Alycia Pascual-Pena; this is a gathering of wonderful charismatic people and the on-screen chemistry is very real. Amy Poehler’s direction is very subtle; I couldn’t find her unique style in this but that’s more than likely due to her not having written the film alongside this. I’d say the only downside of Moxie is that it almost blends in with other stories with a school setting; the harsh atmosphere with a playful tone scattered in, annoying side characters, the list can go on. But Moxie shines when it focuses on the message it’s trying to deliver and the smaller character moments especially. The film comes to its end with quite a nice touch, and without spoiling anything; the once inaudible screams ring out loud and clear. a lingering shot on Vivian, with the stepping stone she laid down now firmly on the ground. Moxie isn’t going to be the one single thing that sparks a revolution like within the film, instead, it’s just one part of the bigger goal. It delivers an uplifting and thought-provoking story, and though not perfect — with a stumbling pace at times, it entertains whilst triggering a conversation that I hope continues to flourish. Moxie is now streaming on Netflix. #TaryllBaker

★★★ Directed by #DonHall #CarlosLopezEstrada #PaulBriggs #JohnRipa Written by #QuiNguyen #AdeleLim #PaulBriggs #DonHall #CarlosLopezEstrada #KielMurray #JohnRipa #DeanWellins Starring #Awkwafina #KellyMarieTran Film Review by Hope Madden and George Wolf Disney was looking to do something different. Well, it’s still a princess, unfortunately, so not that different. But Raya and the Last Dragon marks an impressive step forward in a number of ways. Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) opens the film Mad Max style, riding some alien vehicle through a post-apocalyptic landscape, her face covered, her eyes darting to and fro in search of something–predator? Prey? The apocalypse itself happened just six years earlier, and Raya had a hand in the world’s undoing. Now here she is, at the beginning of the journey that could put the pieces back together. Tran delivers a heroine you can genuinely understand. She is logical, and when she tends to lean toward head and away from heart to make decisions, it’s hard to fault her. Her sidekick, in grand Disney fashion, is the shapeshifting but fantastically colorful dragon Sisu, voiced by Awkwafina. The comic’s brand of endearingly self-effacing humor punctures the film’s preciousness at all the right moments. There is a central emotion, a powerfully executed conflict in Raya and the Last Dragon that never feels as if it’s been watered down or softened for younger viewers. The conflict speaks of the courage to believe in people even when they have proven themselves untrustworthy. It’s a notion that flies in the face of logic, really, but the point of the film—and possibly of life—is that you cannot build a whole community if all you have are fractured segments unwilling to take that leap. There’s just so much stuff here. The film runs a full two hours, and you feel it. The first twenty minutes is burdened with piles of exposition, and the mostly magical second act journey is overstuffed as well. Too many characters to keep track of, let along get attached to, muddy the overall picture. Losing maybe half a dozen characters and trimming 20 minutes from the film would have done wonders for it. There are problems with the execution, but not with the animation. Raya and the Last Dragon is breathtaking, its world building as gorgeous as it is meticulous. Animators deliver each South Asian-inspired community with its own unique look and feel—from a glinting desert wasteland to a torchlit floating city to a lushly forested community and more. The film is simply stunning and should be viewed on the biggest screen available. But for all the Raya puts in the win column, it can’t shake the feeling that all for directors and the team of ten (10!) that built its script and story were culling from plenty of pre-owned parts. The Disney formula still has princesses, they’re just warrior princesses now. That evolution may have been overdue, but it’s already starting to show some age. #HopeMadden #GeorgeWolf

★★ Directed by: #PritankoGhatak Written by: #PritankoGhatak Starring:#ApurbaDewan, #RitusreeSamanta, #RitobinaChakrabartty Film Review by Lucy Clarke Historically, society hasn’t been kind to women. There are certain expectations that women must adhere to. We must act and look a particular way. In some areas of the world, these unspoken rules cause detrimental consequences if they are broken, and in other countries, they result in an eyebrow-raised stare. Pritanko Ghatak’s short film Flawless repeats these themes like a broken record. Three girls know that they don’t fit in. Their perceived flaws are cruelly pointed out by strangers. One has cut and coloured her hair into a bob, another hides her buzz cut with a beanie, and the third has been bullied because of her darker skin. Beauty is only skin deep, and so is this film’s exploration of these issues. Ridiculous beauty standards are known to cause detrimental effects in young girls. While Flawless attempts to address the serious nature of these issues, the end of the film is a Disneyfied, sweet conclusion that puts a plaster over the gaping wound caused by society’s ridiculous expectations on women. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but the conclusion that all the girls are normal isn’t exactly a revolutionary, eye-opening or even comforting statement. Fortunately, some rare glimpses of depth fight to take this issue from a superficial statement to a comment on self-esteem. The girl with the buzz cut bemoans that people fuss her with false intentions and fake sympathy, notions which probe further than the skin-deep bullying. Maybe, if the short was longer than its two minute and forty-second runtime, there would have been time to interrogate these expectations that have wriggled under women’s skin like parasites. Despite all the threads of an interesting commentary, the self-esteem issues aren’t really explored any further. The focus on the characters is wildly inconsistent. One girl has self-esteem issues, rings her mum and contemplates dropping out of school. While she is the most fleshed-out of the three girls, the other two seem like random additions to create a friendship group with the perfect number. The footage has the texture of rough stone and tones of khakis and olive greens, creating a dark mood which is perfect for the theme of social ostracisation. Yet, even this consistency is harshly disrupted with a scene that recalls back to 70s horror flicks. The earlier tone captured the realities of feeling like you’re living on the outskirts of society well, but the switch in tone does Flawless no favours. Flawless is too brief to grapple with topics such as societal acceptance and social pressures with dexterity. While the message that everyone is normal is somewhat uplifting, it is reduced to an airbrushed, surface-level commentary.