Gill

Some of the best indie films dabble in the world of Lo-Fi Sci-Fi and Kieran Moreira’s Gill falls right in that category. Gill joins the small ranks for films that refuse to allow the lack of big studio financing to squash their dreams.

Gill is a simple story of a young woman (Caitlin Wells) testing the latest prototype of a teleportation suit. With the help of a small keypad on her forearm, her test proved successful. Let’s not forget that altering the laws of physics takes precision. One minor miscalculation and you’re done for.

With this most recent successful jump, Gill’s celebration is short-lived when the radio voice (Lazarus Simmons) in her helmet goes off on her for modifying his code in order to “reduce latency.” As Gill is confident, she understands the current problems with the suit, but the voice insists that caution is the best way for her to proceed. You see, making one change in the code can have rippling effects on various other codes and sub-routines.

“…a young woman testing the latest prototype of a teleportation suit.”

Over the course of the eight-minute short, things go very wrong for our test pilot hero. All the while Gill insists she can fix it as she’s uncontrollably flung from one location to another.

Watching Gill, in a way, is like watching a magic show. Sure you can sit intently and try to figure out how the effects were done. At some point though, you need to sit back and enjoy the show. The quality of the magic that Moreira brings to Gill is good and on the cusp great. Sure you may know the tricks involved, but you’ll overlook a great presentation if you dwell on it too much.

For example, the teleportation suit looks fantastic. Its only flaw is it doesn’t look heavy enough on screen betraying the fact that it’s fabricated with lightweight material. Also, the visual effects of Gill are stellar, though you may be tempted to think “oh, I see what they did.” At which point, just stop and remind yourself, you don’t need to be a smart-a*s.

The story of Gill moves at a brisk pace, steadily building its dramatic tension to the final moments, then ending with a peaceful release. If you’re a budding sci-fi filmmaker, Gill is a great film to show you what’s possible.