Deadroom

I saw this film play at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX in March 05, and fell in love with it. The concept is ingenious in its simplicity -- 2 people, together in a room, talk about the emotionally charged event that connects them. The only rub is that one of the two is dead.

There are four separate sets of two characters, each divided by a table (as if in an interrogation room). Each set of characters has a very different story, and the four stories are inter-cut with each other, so that it takes the span of the movie for the viewer to understand and get to the bottom of what the mystery/emotional struggle is between the two characters. Each story was made by a different indie filmmaker, but they work together as a seamless whole, even though the stories have no direct interaction on each other. This isn't a film about action, but about heart, and discovery. Find it if you can!

I saw Deadroom at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. We were all really excited to see this movie based up on the film description; however we were left disappointed by the actual film.

I liked the concept of the film in general, and am not adverse the artistry that they attempted to put in the film. However several things prevented me from enjoying the movie. Out of the story lines, only one of them I really found interesting. While some of the other plot lines were partially interesting, any interest was ruined by the lack of quality in the film.

I understand the problems associated with trying to make an independent film on low budget, but several shots were out of focus, which I found inexcusable. The biggest problem however was horrific acting. There was one, maybe two good actors in the film. Half way through the film I would have liked to go up and act myself to improve the film.

Batman and Robin is still by far a worse film, but this film was a real disappointment to me.

Despite a title that may suggest horror, DEADROOM is a psychological anthology that explores the possibility of meeting with the departed.

The four writer/directors take the concept and run with it, with four very different tales of people who wish to speak with the dead, all with their own twists. If you're good at predicting plot twists, you'll find them, but you will still thoroughly appreciate the storytelling. The decisions for when to cutaway to another story were thoughtful, and enhanced the stories. The set designs and costuming also worked well. The somewhat unsettling opening sequence puts the audience into a questioning mindset that enhances the experience.

Out of over thirty new films I saw at SXSW '05, DEADROOM is one of the most memorable, and in my top five in a very strong and diverse program.

Don't go into this movie just wanting to be entertained by a story. It isn't that type of movie. In this movie it follows four stories of 4 different people visiting the deceased for one reason or another. The stories are meant to be able to relate to you in someway so you can somehow dream like your fulfilling your wish to communicate with the dead to get a blessing, find out a philosophical riddle that's bugging you, tell somehow how much they really meant to you, and in some cases, make sure that the deceased is "getting what they deserve". Like i said if you just go to this movie wanting to watch a neat entertaining story, i suggest you see something else, but if you ever wanted to tell a deceased friend, family member, etc. something then you can come to this movie, put yourself into one of the characters and fulfill that fantasy through your imagination and the help of this delightfully original film.