How far will you go to find justice when justice cannot be found? In Pavel Shatu and Lea Pfandler’s short film, Moment of Truth, a woman (Masha King) stands at her sister’s grave pondering her next move. The woman’s sister and her husband found themselves in a cult, and when her sister wanted to leave, her husband had no choice but to murder her — at the command of the cult’s leader, the Golden Wolf.
Now, the woman is on the run as she is the last loose thread to her sister’s existence. Her only choice is the seek aid from a private investigator (Pavel Shatu) with the perfect plan… but when was a plan ever perfect in the movies?
“…her husband had no choice but to murder her — at the command of the cult’s leader…”
Realizing this is a short noir film, I prefer that most of the narrative in noir comes from dialogue versus the narration. The scene with the woman and the P.I. might have made for some exciting moments leading to its twisty suspense-filled ending.
That said, Moment of Truth is a testament to the love of the neo-noir genre of filmmakers Shatu and Pfandler. Running just over eight minutes, our story gets right to the action. Masha King gives us the first-person narration of a woman on the run, but most of her performance is in King’s face. She plays the damsel in distress, who may or may not precisely be “in distress.”
"…a testament to the love of the neo-noir genre..."
