Poison

This is a very simple story in which we find the protagonist lying in bed and suffering. This tries to be solved by his partner and also by the help of a doctor.

The acting in this Short story is great, Benedict Cumberbatch Manages to perform his character to perfection just by lying in bed and moving his face. I also want to point out the sparks of comedy that this story has, makes me remember that funny Doctor Strange. Together with the other two characters actings, the magic of Wes Anderson and the resources that he uses to sweeten the story and make it Sooooo tense, they create a magic story which is not really that magic.

After watching the other tales, this one shows too much of the story which takes some importance off the narrator.

¡Go watch it by yourself!

My last viewing and an excellent conclusion. At this point I am again aware of my high regard for Anderson's work and the resulting standing. What director can celebrate such artistic freedom, dancing on the threshold between mainstream and arthouse. Back to the film. A suspenseful beginning, immediately awakens my empathy, compassion. Tension, not a typical Anderson stylistic device, in fact none at all. But it works, it is maintained, also by not playing too many games. Plus an ending with reverberation, finally. At least for me, I had missed that in the other episodes. My favourite of the series.

'Poison' (2023) is stressful. This simple set-up of a man trapped in bed because of a snake leaves the audience in frozen state of nerves. The dialogue (mostly narrative) is detailed and given with such an intensity you drift into the scene yourself.

The scenery takes place mostly in a bedroom with the interior and exterior part of the house being movable pieces much like a play would be. The environment is active like a character and adds to the anxious plot.

On the surface the plot is simple and could be as old as time, but its what's in-between the lines that tell a much larger story. Roald Dahl paints this in his original story, and Wes Anderson with conservative creative control further adds to the story with unacknowledged visual objects and scenery.

This film, like the other Anderson directed films in the "four-part" series are all lessons in story-telling. Each having their own in-between the lines story.

Watch all of them. But don't miss out on this one even if you think its just another short film.

Netflix for the first time in a long time is finally releasing stuff that I actually like. These four shorts made by Wes Anderson are a small gem in the enormous pile of bad productions available on that streaming platform. The story of "Poison" is not very interesting per se but the narration style is engaging at times, keeping the audience on the verge. The characters are pretty forgettable in my opinion, the cast did not really manage to create any interesting peculiarity. I reckon that Wes is a bit too repetitive. I understand that his storytelling techniques are very specific, but I wish he could make some variations, adding a bit of novelty to this piece. I believe that in short stories such as this one, he should have left a bigger impact, or simply chose better novels to adapt to the small screen. My final mark is 6.

Poison is a short film filled with tension pretty much instantaneously, initially feeling like a fun piece of style over substance until its final moments in which it suddenly gets a lot darker with an ending designed to leave a lasting impression.

Fulfilling the promise of Henry Sugar, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley all get a much welcome second go at playing in the world of Wes. With Cumberbatch mostly restricted to a bed Dev Patel becomes the standout, still perfect with his delivery and mannerisms.

Wes Anderson's direction is always flawless in its visual construction, the sets here remain gorgeous to look at but a lot smaller in scale and the best surprise here is Wes showing that his usual, heightened style actually works really well for crafting tension.