Although it is "just" a short film, it must be said that Karl Brant never really feels like it is limited by anything. Visually, casting, themes and scale all feel like a bigger film and if you were dropped into it unknowingly I doubt you would say it was anything other than a feature or a show. The plot sees a neurologist murdered but his memories and therefore his "self" fully accessible via a machine he had been working on with this partner. This machine is used during police interrogations but introduces a moral aspect when they consider what to do with this talking "evidence".
The film is very well made and to speak of its strengths one must admit that the cinematography is great, the effects strong and the general production (sets, costumes, sound) is very good. This is added to by the cast since you will have seen everyone somewhere else – although you'll have seen more of some than others, if you get my meaning. Chekvala is solid in the title role but the casting of Paul "Pee-Wee" Reubens, Janina "True Blood" Gavankar and Jon "guest in every crime TV show you've seen" Skaroff really is where the film adds to the sense of this being a big deal.
All of this is probably why it disappoints so much when it fails to really make an impact. The ideas are all there but they are simply presented and concluded while, at the same time, the investigation unfolds in a most unremarkable way. The tone is brooding and slow, which I liked, but this didn't seem to be enough by itself and really there was not too much else behind this; even the conclusion didn't make as much of an impact as it could have done if it had been worked more effectively. It is a shame because the film looks and feels really professional in pretty much every regard, it is only when it comes to the actual delivery and impact of the story where it somehow falls short.
