Recently demoted to the role of fairy godmother, due to her sometimes dangerous grasp of all things magical, Satu (Kat Scicluna) finds herself in yet another botched wish scenario. Sebi (Dean Temple), in his forties and lacking the passion he once had in his youth, wishes to go back and start anew. Unfortunately, Satu ignores the point where he is wishing to be twenty-two again, for good reason, and instead makes his life resemble his youth, meaning he’s now penniless and without a steady job. Seeing the disappointment she’s caused, however, Satu sets about learning how to correct her mistake.
While Ivan Cordoba’s short film, The Naked Truth About Fairies, is often comical and fun, I can’t shake that it doesn’t quite achieve its potential. I don’t know if I was expecting more from the production design, or perhaps more creative composition, but the actual technical elements of the filmmaking don’t meet the bar of its more fantastical ideas.
It’s an element the film seems to playfully mock itself, such as a gag where the inept Satu grants a wish and her wand doesn’t make a sound. Thus it plays with convention, and what the audience might expect from a film about fairies, but instead of delivering an interesting spin on the idea, the film delivers as bare bones an experience as it can. Maybe it is due to budget constraints, who knows, but it’s a somewhat ambitious premise let down by its stripped-down execution, and even in the few moments when it does try to liven up the image with something extra, it just doesn’t work. Visually, the film is not very pleasing at all.
But it does have some fun moments. Leads Scicluna and Temple can be engaging, and the basic idea is interesting enough that you want to know where the story is going. It’s a little too long; should be closer to ten minutes than twenty, but it’s not laborious.
It’s not a home run, for you baseball fans, but it’s an attempt at legging out a bunt; it’s not highlight reel material, but it could get you on base. Maybe. In the end, the short film just feels so plain and ordinary, which is a letdown, all things considered.
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