(a.k.a.
NYX 2022—13 MINUTES OF HORROR: SCI-FI HORROR. Various directors and
screenwriters, listed within review)
Overall review
Edited
by Ashley Lynch, 13 MINUTES is one of the best short-film anthologies I’ve seen a
long time. All of the one-minute flicks have something to recommend them to
viewers, especially “Overtime” and “Screengrab.”
Review, film short by film short
1
“Beauty
Booth”
(Director/screenwriter: Marilyn Flores)
A young woman (played by Alba Villaronga Cases) uses a photo booth-like app to make herself more attractive. The results are considerably less than what she was hoping for.
Good,
smart work.
2
“Overtime”
(Director/co-screenwriter/co-star: Kristine Gerolaga. Co-screenwriter/co-star: Steven Krimmel)
This is a blackly humorous, ethereal, and eerily—almost sleazily—red backlit entry (kudos to cinematographer William Green), where a bedridden, dying woman and “sole breadwinner: for her family (Kristine Gerolaga) in a dark room is attended visited by a masked co-worker (Steven Krimmel) regarding financial coverage for her family when she’s gone.
Standout
short film.
3
“Nothing
Has Changed”
(Director/screenwriter: Carla Grace Fajardo)
A romantic virtual reality trip with his boyfriend goes awry for a gay man. Stars: Manase Missa and DJ Tinaz.
Good,
smart (with a briefly palpable angst) piece.
4
“Screengrab”
(Director/screenwriter: Sadie Walton. Screenwriter: Meaghan Morris.)
Occult, intensely dark and mood-effective (especially its end music, no credited composer) film short where a grim “Zoom Participant” (listed character name, played Sam Kittelson) watches an online “Witch” (Meaghan Morris), and reacts in a shocking fashion. Also co-stars Sadie Walton as a “Disembodied Head.”
One of
my favorite entries in this filmic anthology, has an Old School, 1980s-esque
feel.
5
“Transform(Her)”
(Director/screenwriter: Bianca Malcolm)
The fashion choices of three pretty female dolls are judged by three male dolls, one of them a hideous alien, in this reality TV-esque, stop-motion animation short, where the female dolls are more than they seem.
Fun, clever,
and brightly hued.
6
“Sayonara”
(Director/screenwriter: Elaine Chu)
A
woman’s practical and briefly upbeat online video about getting through an
apocalyptic pandemic turns dark (and hilarious). Good, timely—especially after
these last couple of years—short.
7
“Specimen
9126”
(Director: Robbie Barnes. Screenwriter: Devi Bhaduri.)
In an
Area 51 lab, an alien “Creature” (Rob Motoc) stalks a terrified woman (Quinn,
played by Tammy Davis). Entertaining and creepy.
8
“Pardon
the Intrusion”
(Director/screenwriter/animator: Megan Llewellyn)
This animated,
prose-poetic short concerns a woman being visited by a narrating creature
(voiced by Aysha U Farah). It’s well-made, has an intuitive, experimental
element going for it.
9
“2
Weeks”
(Director: Sara Werner. Screenwriter: Bry Gallagher.)
A
woman (Sadie, played by Bry Gallagher) losing weight, two weeks in advance, for
a friend’s (“The Bride”) beachside wedding. Lots of flashy hard cuts and weird
angles in this one, with a funny ending.
10
“Mother”
(Director: Deanna Gomez, billed as Deanna M. Gomez. Screenwriter: Mercedes K. Milner.)
Explorers
in spacesuits investigate an unfamiliar space, not knowing what they’ll find.
Solid, interesting (in a good way) short work.
11
“Take
a Breath”
(Director/screenwriter: JC Farris)
A woman
(played by Maria Stephens) physically shifts between two locations—one likely
fatal for her, the other slightly less dangerous—in every-few-seconds
increments. Excellent character sketching in this one.
12.
“nine”
(Director/screenwriter: Olivia Hill)
A
ticking clock paces this audio-focused, effectively unsettling, and bleakly
humorous mini-film.
13
“Momento
Mori”
(Director/screenwriter: Izzy Lee)
April
9, 1983. A frustrated scientist (Megan Duffy), up for days,
monitoring lab machines, and writing down her findings, gets a result she isn’t
prepared for.
Entertaining,
well-shot, atmospheric.
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