The opening warning on the screen alerts viewers that what they are about to witness may be too shocking for some people. If only the movie had actually lived up to that hype.
The film, after a little bit of a set-up, revolves around Kathy (Jennifer Rowe), a soap opera- obsessed housewife who takes more than her share of physical and mental abuse from her husband. When two young teens approach her with a video camera and some stupid questions, Kathy confesses that she’s always wanted to be an actress, and then invites them inside her home for a drink. Things seem like they’re about to get awfully dark and twisted, and that’s where the let down happens.
Granted, if your only exposure to thrillers comes from what the Lifetime channel offers, this will probably blow your mind. For the rest of us, however, the mere fact that what we expect to happen really doesn’t should be enough for us to forgive the tepid conflict and much ado about nothing … but it isn’t. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for anyone who thinks he or she may be interested in this, but I will say that if you are impressed by it and (God forbid) terrified, you need to watch more films. The twist could have been handled well, but the ball was dropped, and instead of being sinister and chilling, it’s just sort of pedestrian.
Credit must be given to writer/director Colin Bannon for not going the anticipated route. That takes some courage, because it would’ve been a far more predictable and possibly enjoyable story had he done what viewers expected. Instead, he deftly flips the situation around (though not all that convincingly), and that shows confidence in one’s storytelling abilities. Bannon knows how to make his voice heard, I just remain unsure of whether or not he’s saying anything worth listening to in this short film.
