Toque de Recolher

"Curfew" is a nineteen minute short film that gives you enough to understand its breadth. Richie (Shawn Christensen) is a suicidal man in the midst of suicide when his distraught sister Maggie (Kim Allen) called him to ask him to watch his niece Sophia (Fatima Ptacek). It's clear she doesn't trust him at all, but it's also clear that she's desperate.

The little that you get from this drama is solid. I'm not sure if I would watch the same movie if it were a feature length film, but if it were on I wouldn't change the channel.

Yes, this short film is OK. It ticks all of the boxes that make festival judges salivate. It has the lonely protagonist going through a crisis, we have the sister that creates the main conflict early on - early enough to stop him from doing the unspeakable. The young girl does a good job here as the bratty child with a strict to do list.

The story was well paced and it keeps you engaged. Some parts bordered on pretension though, such as the use of the song, "We'll Meet Again", and the composition, "Si on change les équipes ce n'est plus une revanch". These seemed misplaced - as if it was a case of, we acquired the rights so we'll use it type of thing.

The dance sequence was also out of place. It didn't make any sense. It took me right out of the story. Onto the positives, Shawn Christensen is a good writer/director and was able to handle being the lead character too with relative ease. Curfew really cleaned up the Official Selections and Awards. I mean it's good but is it that good?

Christensen is clearly well known and has a lot of contacts in the industry. I've seen shorts this good and better that didn't get the recognition they deserve. They just fell into oblivion because the talent were simply not known.

Anyway, this is a solid effort all round. 7/10.

Someone who knew I was a bit battered by life told me to seek out and watch this short, and I'm so glad they did, because it went under my radar.

Without spoilers I can only say that it captures the feeling of being at the last saloon, and how the smallest thing can make you go one way or another. Trust me on this.

Shawn Christensen deserves so much praise for his understated performance as well as doing pretty much everything else, and what a find Fatima Ptacek is. A solid double header of talent.

Everyone I know that has seen it talks about the fantasy ( or is it ) sequence, that great tune, and the sureal scene in an otherwise dark tale.

Bottom line: WOW. It really is a ten out of ten. 20 minutes of your life, what have you got to loose.

This is a surreal dark comedy about suicidal depression and drug addiction, but it's really about the characters and the way family can affect a person. Not realistic, not quite intended to be realistic, but totally believable emotionally, and the dialogue and music are terrific.

Watching Shawn Christensen's Academy Award-winning "Curfew", I was reminded of Wes Anderson's works. Similar cinematography and characters (but a very different plot). The short has a good balance of comedy and drama, focusing on topics as different as responsibility and suicide. I've been making an effort to see a lot of Academy Award-winning (or even nominated) short films recently, so I'm glad that I got to see this one. I recommend it.