forbesxavier

This is a game changer. Sheikhalishahi manages to change the tropes and the codes of short films. In 11 minutes, the movie starts like a classic thriller, heist movie, yet the atmosphere is very stylish and Matt Passmore (Jigsaw, The Glades) and co-star Brigitte Millar (Harry Potter, Spectre) are quite mysterious and dark. But things get more complicated after the half of the movie when you understand that the structure of the movie is not as linear as it makes think and is built like a little puzzle with flashbacks, flash forwards and you have enough clues to decipher.

It's beautifully and cleverly made, yet you still doesn't fully understand why Sheikhalishahi has chosen this writing style, except for adding more suspens and mystery until the last part. The last part and its great visual twists give you all the keys you need to figure out what the movie really means from the very beginning and make your perception totally change. That's brilliant to do such a great job in 11 minutes.

Brilliantly written and directed, as there are beautiful shots, cool locations, a nice atmosphere with a great work from the cinematographer Jean-Claude Aumont and the two composers Gréco Casadesus and Gregory Cotti who give an impressive main theme.

Another brilliant feature from this short is that the movie is almost silent with no dialogs. Sheikhalishahi made everything visual (which is a great leap from his first short) including the major clues and how are built the twists. The few lines here are also important to help you understand what's going on and better get the timeline.

What a powerful and brilliant experience that delivers this short. From the very beginning to the very end it's never boring even the pace is rather slow. You definitely want to feel or guess what shatters, haunts these two characters, especially Marge who has shutted herself in a house. And the enigmatic 'sinister' husband, Walter.

The story is quite good you have to watch it at least two times to see all the subtleties. Cinematography and music work fine together. Camera work, editing and sound design are very good. There is a very mysterious atmosphere (insides and at the middle of the film, the beach scene...).

Otto and Godey work very well together.

So hard to write about this sort film as it's strange and definitely go watch this movie to feel what's going on inside this house. You will be haunted by 'the stars' after the credits...

The short film works well.

Benoit Gourley definitely portrays a good (and very funny) James Bond.

Some dialogues are well funded ('I preferred Sean Connery' made me laugh). The title sequence is awesome (with an incredible song). Music is very fine in the whole.

But the plot is mediocre (one scene in particularly is ridiculous) though the end is interesting.