Cashback

For such a short film (15 minutes), 'Cashback' offered quite a lot.

It is about staff who work the night shift at a supermarket and the stuff they get up to. Then we see what Ben's imagination is to pass time.

There are a few laughs and all the cast do a very good job. The short film is extremely well made and does have a message. The atmosphere builds up as it goes on so it really draws you in.

At 15 minutes, you don't have much to lose, just give it a try. I enjoyed it but I don't think I saw enough to make me want to watch the full length version which was released two years later.

Don't watch if full frontal nudity will offend you.

7/10.

When I first watched this movie I couldn't get past the nudity enough to see the art. I watched it again and started to see that the nudes were so perfect they were more like mannequins than anything else. How can a movie about night-fill at a supermarket possibly be any good? Add Sean Biggerstaff , humour, and an outstanding writer/director such as Sean Ellis, and you get the perfect mix. Sean Ellis, in his first attempt at movie making, takes you on a journey that perfectly mixes art ( nudity, lighting, Ben's drawings), with humour. One can easily see that Sean Ellis has a great career ahead of him. One can only hope for more like him still to come! The amount of detail put into such a short amount of time certainly makes the film worthy of all the awards it has received at various festivals. The new one is now finished and ready for distribution. I'm looking forward to seeing the full length film now!

Sainsburys, the night shift, nothing could be more dull. What could be worse than a movie about this seemingly mindnumbingly boring activity. However, from the very first moment, the movie grabs your attention and puts you in the shoes of Ben.

The shots are done with style and panache and particularly effective is the use of the bleak, artificial supermarket lighting which throws this whole surreal, sleepless world into perspective. Also effective is the portrayal of the nude women who are almost alien in their stillness and with their flawless features. Sean Biggerstaff is a real asset to the film as his flawless acting and his narration especially complement the film to a great extent. The comedy elements coupled with the creation of a unique atmosphere make this film what it is. However, the imagination and the simple fact that so many ideas are crammed into the fifteen or so minutes of this short really make this film incredible.

Cashback is a gem of a short film. It has a unique visual aesthetic laced with a wicked sense of humour. Sean Ellis gets beautiful performances from his actors, played out beneath the life sapping neon of this enclosed world, brilliantly creating the boredom of the lives of the nightshift workers in a 24 hour supermarket. We're sucked into their twilight existence and treated to the surreal, bizarre and comic; as the characters each find their way to make it through the graveyard shift.

It makes you laugh and makes you think.You'll never look at a store worker the same way again. It's a short film, long on wit and imagination.

As a photographer, I get this movie. It's about seeing life in it's tiny moments and being able to capture them forever. That's what the main character Ben who's an aspiring sketch/painter shows us throughout the film. That ability that so few have of being able to show down time, even stop it, and find the lines, curves, elegance and refinement of life. This is something shared with great athletes who can slow down their game and see the avenues of winning.

Yes, Ben's obsessed with the beauty of the female form, and you'll see lots of naked bodies, but most of the world's greatest artist have that same obsession. They've been able to capture them and share them with the world as great works of art.

Ben's journey also takes us through his personal struggles of being unable to relate with people in the real world. Something many artist share.

I find this movie a wonderful capsule of how to to find the allure of life. It's right under our noses folks. Just slow down, take the moment in, and let time come to a stop, and it's there.