"Dead and Breakfast" (Barrett)
Barrett’s latest short is not only, very possibly, one of the finer short films I have seen, but also an exercise in absurdity, as well as a test of the audience’s imagination. In the modest tale woven, amounting to no more then 15 minutes worth of reading, we are tried for our subconscious boundaries on how suspense doesn’t always come in a clichéd, perfectly wrapped package of a nice murder mystery, but sometimes by omission; the wonder of to what happened that night, and then, in a manner I applaud, the mind bending and awkwardly bizarre explanation that follows. It is a slowly devious short that relies on its charm to pull you in, and, at the end, thrust you out, realizing everything you have seen leads to nothing more then what could be a nightmare itself.
As the length hinders any real chance to dive into the characters, it shall be noted that, from what we see, they are handled carefully and adorably. A white picket fence couple, a bright future ahead, a nice, reminiscent-ful past behind them; and then we meet Penny’s friend, a dangerously self destructive woman who, in her worst, makes Lindsey Lohan look like an altar girl. From here, the film takes a deadly turn, deadly in relation to ourselves, as know the calmness and quietness we once had is sacrificed for a new found thrilling wonder. We learn the friend had something of a night to herself, and we so desperately desire to find out what it was.
From here, the three talk about when they were young, how wild they are, and slowly, as we hope, the topic turns to the revealing of the events prior. We see that, like us, the other two characters, who take a backseat later on, are like us; in fact, they feel more an audience then the cast, as they view with the same emotions we do and the same confusion as us. So really, this short feels like a web, branching is different directions. At one end, you have the story of strange proportions, and on the other hand, you have a test for an audience to take, and the subjects- not only you, but the cast (representing the audience) themselves!
Overall, without a word spared, I cannot say more except to recommend this to you highly; if not as a layered story, then, at the bare least, a curiosity piece. Of course, there were some things I was let down upon my expecting too much. Built up so high with the tension, I would have enjoyed the party scene to be elaborated on further, and perhaps more time spent building the characters depth. Granted, they were fine for easiness to be read, but as for their history and past, we only see what we read, and beyond that, I wasn’t able to conjure up any feeling that these were very attached friends. We heard about the friendship band and the teenage escapades, but I never really believed it. Then again, like a dream, in this film, what is there to believe? Without imagination, why, we just might drop dead.
As the length hinders any real chance to dive into the characters, it shall be noted that, from what we see, they are handled carefully and adorably. A white picket fence couple, a bright future ahead, a nice, reminiscent-ful past behind them; and then we meet Penny’s friend, a dangerously self destructive woman who, in her worst, makes Lindsey Lohan look like an altar girl. From here, the film takes a deadly turn, deadly in relation to ourselves, as know the calmness and quietness we once had is sacrificed for a new found thrilling wonder. We learn the friend had something of a night to herself, and we so desperately desire to find out what it was.
From here, the three talk about when they were young, how wild they are, and slowly, as we hope, the topic turns to the revealing of the events prior. We see that, like us, the other two characters, who take a backseat later on, are like us; in fact, they feel more an audience then the cast, as they view with the same emotions we do and the same confusion as us. So really, this short feels like a web, branching is different directions. At one end, you have the story of strange proportions, and on the other hand, you have a test for an audience to take, and the subjects- not only you, but the cast (representing the audience) themselves!
Overall, without a word spared, I cannot say more except to recommend this to you highly; if not as a layered story, then, at the bare least, a curiosity piece. Of course, there were some things I was let down upon my expecting too much. Built up so high with the tension, I would have enjoyed the party scene to be elaborated on further, and perhaps more time spent building the characters depth. Granted, they were fine for easiness to be read, but as for their history and past, we only see what we read, and beyond that, I wasn’t able to conjure up any feeling that these were very attached friends. We heard about the friendship band and the teenage escapades, but I never really believed it. Then again, like a dream, in this film, what is there to believe? Without imagination, why, we just might drop dead.
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