Self-Assembly

It's hard to describe Self-Assembly... really. Based off of the 1 rather short comic strip (that I immediately looked up after viewing this short) you've probably never heard of, Self-Assembly shows the long haul of parents trying to raise an alien-like child they found in a self assembly cabinet which they recently bought. Without going into detail, the ending was sort-of abrupt, but, also, in a way more shocking that I could have anticipated. Going on the details side of thing, there is little-to-no dialog, or speech in this film, but, regardless the acting is well done. The film is also set entirely in black and white, and the first few seconds sort of set up the tone of the film, but, more on that later.

For such a bizarre concept, you'd expect it to not be pulled off as well. In that sense, you're almost completely wrong. The story is intriguing, and, while there certainly isn't much of it, whatever's left is interesting. However, as previously mentioned, I do feel this short film ended on a head-scratch-ER... not in an inception kind of way, but, more on the, "Well, that happened" sort of abrupt way. And, also, don't expect much character development in anybody but the monster, which goes over-board and does a spine breaking 360 jump- kick when all is said and done.

Now for my main issue with the film... it's humor. While some may laugh from time to time, for a film that dons it self as a dark comedy, it only really gets one part of that right. Yes, don't get me wrong, this film is dark, so much so to the point where I was asking myself if I would be okay to continue watching at points, however, as a comedy, it doesn't really hold up. The first few seconds of the film, while predictable, are about the only real laugh I had here, and I only mildly giggled. Instead of working with it's interesting concept to create a few gut-busters, it focuses more on gross out humor, which works if you like that sort of humor, but, in my personal opinion, it didn't really work for me here.

And now, onto the overall tone of the film. As I mentioned, the beginning sort of sets up the tone of this short... SORT OF. It's dark, fast, shocking, and quite predictable, a pattern I found throughout this short. Where it gets the tone right is the fact that it quite frankly gives us a taste at some dark humor to expect, but, where it gets it wrong is one fact: it had me expecting more. Instead, the tone goes from "HEY, I'm darkly funny", to, "HEY, I might be considered darkly comedic, but, I'm more on the dark side, less on the comedy". However, to end on a less bitter note, the direction is smooth, and was handled decently.

When all is said and done, Self-Assembly is good, but certainly not perfect. It ends quite abruptly, the only character really worth paying attention to is the alien-like-child, and some (like me) might find it not very humorous. But, for all those complaints, it has good acting, decent writing AND direction, disturbing scenes that were well executed, AND a good concept.

As a sort of warning, if you're a teacher that shows a class short films without previewing them, and doesn't let them see violent shorts, I would either not recommend you show your class this film at all, or, at least preview it first.

This film opens with a tragedy – not a big thing to reveal here, because it is the start of the film. The reason to mention it though is because the opening really does give you a sense of the film's tone. What we have is oddly dainty and slightly comedic music playing, while stark (but not cold) black and white images show a boy playing with his ball by the street. We sort of know what is coming but I was not prepared for how clearly and yet matter-of-factly, we would see what happened – it is a quite shocking piece of special effects.

This tone continues as the film keeps the music and in fragments tells us the story of a couple building a self-assembly cabinet which turns out to be assembling some sort of life within it. The ominous but yet slightly perky presentation works well, because at one time it is oddly comic but yet also threatening and so obviously horrific. Through the film it is possible to see the impact of this creature as that of a disrespectful child and then teenager, but the design of the creature and the tone of the film never let us forget that this is a horror of a sort. The building "wrongness" of it all never goes away and I found this sense of terrible tension to be great value, particularly in moments where it resulted in something happening.

The design of the creature is interesting, but for me it is the colder and familiar-but-creepy design of the faces, the cabinet and other aspects that make it constantly creepy. The cast work well opposite the special effect; Kinsella is good as the father who is pent up somewhat, while Kirwan brings across her character's sense of loss and need for motherhood really well; they make the characters and the environment seem real – which means the horror is all the more creepy as a result. The camera doesn't seem to move around much, which gives the film a stillness that benefits the content, it does feel like the camera is holding its breath at times, just as the viewer may in some tense moments. Likewise the black and white adds to this and generally the whole film has a great visual aesthetic which is creepy in a cold, ordinary-but-not way. Sullivan and Shanley manage to produce comic and tender moments throughout, again just making the horrific and creepy that much more effective.

It is a hard short film to define, but it is very good at what it does. It is accessible, recognizable, creepy, tender, comic, and horrific; and the way that the film is perfectly judged to deliver all of this across the running time is really very impressive.

After its end, only the state is important. it is a bizarre/creepy short film. with a credible premises. with a not surprising plot. and a brutal end. but the significant detail remains the "seed" of this film. in essence, the first 53 minutes are the source of all explanations. because "Self - Assembly" is the translation of a profound pain and the looking for the right substitute of a lost who escapes to the words. so, a creepy short film. and little more.