Old Mate sees a young teenager trying to stay in with his older friends by agreeing to break into an old man's house while he has his afternoon nap. He is to steal a gun hidden under the bed – he wants to then use it to go camping for a few days with some hunting and fishing, whereas the older two appear to be more interested in shooting stuff up. As he enters the house, all seems simple but it is soon apparent that he is out of his comfort zone.
Like a few short films I have seen recently this short has themes of coming-of-age and also of friends being on different paths as they reach that age. In this case it is not really either of these but a mix of both as we see a younger teen pressured into something that doesn't go well – making him face the consequences of his actions directly. The events in the film are a bit too dramatic however – or rather, presented as too dramatic I think. The basic plot is engaging and the remoteness of the setting is convincing (those who grow up in rural areas will know that the potential to mess around and make stupid teenage mistakes is a lot higher sometimes in the country), however the film tends to overplay its hand in the favour of grit that perhaps it doesn't need and doesn't warrant.
The cinematography has a bit of this since the film is very dark and washed out of color in a realistic manner, but it does seem to set the tone. The plot pushes things too far – pointing a gun at someone is dramatic and shows the character to be an idiot, but it is overplayed for dramatic effect. The use of music is good since it is hardly used, but when it is, it clunks across the screen like a horror movie. It all still works to a point and I actually quite liked the bleak ending, but it does push too hard to get the film to that dark, gritty place and it does it in a way that it doesn't really manage to sell.