The Confession

You can trust the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to introduce you to some very worthwhile short filmmaking with their nominees each year, films that would have otherwise never reached an audience outside of the festival circuit. This one is a particularly outstanding choice, among the very best the short film categories at the Oscars have offered in recent years.

The 26-minute picture, which looks and sounds as good or better than many a costly feature production, begins as one would expect from conventional short film fare: Two kids in a whimsical situation. As anyone raised in the Catholic faith could testify, not knowing quite what to say during your first confession is a dilemma equally absurd and real. But expectations are turned on their heads by what the script spins out of this idea. A few minutes in, the viewer realizes he has committed a sin himself by summarily throwing the film in with all those others which content themselves with milking their singular observation for merely the humor and cuteness of it, especially when there are child actors involved. Not so here, as soon enough "The Confession" turns into a chilling, compelling drama that ultimately leaves one with questions about what faith can lead people to do. In the best short film tradition, the film gets there with surprising storytelling and a resonating message.

Extraordinary acting from the leads, elegant and sober directing, exquisite cinematography. Highest recommendation.

With their first confession looming large, two young lads - "Sam" (Lewis Howlett) and his best pal "Jacob" (Joe Eales) are quite apprehensive. They've no real need to be - it's not like they are axe-murderers or anything, but maybe that's the problem. They have done nothing, not even the slightest naughty thing. Moreover, they don't want to war a frock either... A rehearsal - yep, let's use a bag of crisps as the communion wafer then what might they actually say when it comes down to it? Methinks a prank is in order - otherwise the priest will be bored! Into the farmer's field they go to make some mischief with the scarecrow and his plodding tractor - but yikes, does it all go tragically wrong. As the ramifications of their actions and behaviour dawn on them more, they must make some very tough choices - but will they do what is right? The second part of this drama is much darker, more tautly directed and more potent and it also showcases a pretty strong performance from the young Howlett as his character's conscience becomes increasingly troubled. Maybe just a little on the long side, but it's still quite a compelling short feature to watch, inviting us to take a view on the entire concept of priestly absolution...

The Confession follows the story of two young boys that are trying to find what to confess in their first confession. Their comedic explorations take a dramatic twist, while at the same time a few "psychological thriller" types of scenes give this cross-genre experience a lot of weird moments. Because evidently the director's intention to mix the genres was not justified, meaning that the mix had no deeper aesthetic purpose other than the very experiment of mixing, which is why at times the story is left dry, trying to discover a purpose for the characters other than the before-mentioned cinematic experiment. And that's a shame, because each of the genres is very well delivered, especially the first comedic vibes.

The Confession is only 26 minute long. It's really thrilling. I imagine that the script is so good that you can triple that time and make a full- length movie. I still liked the short film though.

Tanel Toom is unknown in film industry. Until now. Nominated for Oscar in short film category. This is a massive achievement for a young guy like Tanel. I assume this gives him a gigantic boost for the future. Well, he didn't win, but actually it doesn't matter that much. The best thing about this nomination is that his name is much better known now. And it can open many doors to him which were closed prior to nomination. He seems a bright fella. Maybe a future face of Estonian film business, who knows. Anyway, I'm glad for him.