Washland Express

At time of me writing this comment, the IMDb plot summary shown was put up by the creator of the short and goes into quite a lot of detail on the plot - some specific some suggestive. This is a shame because it is not a film that benefits from you knowing what sort of film it is or where it is going. Essentially a car wash employee joins a woman in her car as she goes through the wash, so that he can check some issues with the machinery. On their way through, some sort of bond starts to form. That's the basic setup but there are some nice little developments in and around that, and it is these tonal and event-driven changes that keep the film engaging.

It isn't some brilliant piece that will keep you coming back again and again, but it is entertaining, slick, does what it does, and gets out in less than 8 minutes - the sort of short film that does well online where longer, more 'worthy' fare may not. It gets its tone and design right, and does enough to carry off its unlikely narrative with humour, but at the same time not undercutting itself by being silly or daft (which parts of it really could have been). It is a good balance and it works well. The production design of the car wash is well done, and the two performances work well with the material and one another. It didn't thrill me or make a massive impact as a film, but it entertained and amused me, which is great considering that is what I was looking for.