Shane Bannon’s short film, The Perfect Place to Cry, is an effective and efficient tale of horror.
A young woman (Celina Bernstein) finds herself in a dark, secluded spot in the woods. She sits in her car as this is the perfect place to cry. Lamenting her recent breakup, a shirtless man (Jesse Howland) in the distance appears and walks over to the woman’s vehicle. She is frozen in place; she nervously tries to roll up her window. He heads straight toward her in a dazed, maybe zombie-like state.
“…she nervously tries to roll up her window. He heads straight toward her in a dazed, maybe zombie-like state.”
Running just over six minutes, The Perfect Place to Cry sets up everything you need to know about this woman and her circumstance without the need for useless exposition. Instead, it’s all revealed in Celina Bernstein’s facials and reactions. Director Bannon brilliantly creates tension, all from the woman’s point of view within the car. With an excellent command over build-up and release, this horror story works because the filmmaker puts us right into the shoes of our protagonist and asks the question, “what would you do?” Bannon then proceeds to give us the perfect button at the end.
For screening information about The Perfect Place to Cry, visit Shane Bannon’s official website.
"…puts us right into the shoes of our protagonist and asks the question, 'what would you do?'"
