Young siblings Ben and Mikey’s innocent game of hide-and-seek takes a terrifying turn when they encounter a supernatural entity lurking under the bed. As the creature’s dark presence grows increasingly menacing, the children must rely on their wits and bravery to survive the nightmarish ordeal.
The US horror short Under is masterfully suspenseful. The direction is exceptional – – the viewer is quickly caught in an ominous web of both tension and apprehension.
The camera work is fabulous – – it moves dizzily across the floorboards and under the bed. Fear is generated by a terrifying sound design, complete with creaks, growls, bangs, creepy toy voices and heavy breathing. The frightening musical refrains enhance the nightmarish build up.
Props are highly professional, notably the well-crafted monster with its disgusting blue goop, supported by a well-selected residential location with many doorways for evil to hide. Also notable is the convincing naturalistic performances of the two lead children.
Startling and chilling, this horror short does what it sets out to do – – to create a suspense that entertains.
A terminally ill Vietnam veteran finds solace and purpose in rescuing an abused dog no one else wanted, rediscovering the meaning of life and the profound power of companionship.
Review by Julie Sheppard:
While this short Roxy & The Man runs only 28 minutes, it is chock full of heart. Although the film notably appeals to dog fans given its central canine figures, its messaging is one of love, and faithfulness – themes of universal appeal.
From the outset with the quote “Dog Spelled backwards is God”, we can tell that the creators have an engaging sense of humour. This humour is played out beautifully by the lead performer whose humble honesty and kindness shine through both vocally with his soothing, raspy voice and visually with his physical expressions of cheeky warmth. The clever cinematography often zooms in on his friendly face and on the adorable dogs in the film. There are also many gorgeous scenes of a pristine beach, palm-lined vistas, and a striking sunset.
The screenplay moves the action along at a good pace, as you sense that the lead is beating the odds, beyond his initial cancer diagnosis, largely due to his ongoing connection with geriatric dogs.
Perfectly complementing the heartwarming sentiment of the film is the resonant soundtrack, with its melodic guitar, poignant piano and stirring vocals about togetherness.
The quote near the end “You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it” serves the film perfectly – as with the opening quote, man’s best friend takes on a saving, spiritual role!
Written & Directed by Joey Medina Starring: Paul Rodriguez
A young woman waits for her lover for a secret trip. However, he does not show up and does not respond to her messages. That’s when strange and inexplicable events begin to happen in her house. She asks for help from her lover, who ignores her. Realizing that she is hopelessly alone, she gives up waiting for salvation and surrenders to her own shadow.
Review by Victoria Angelique
The short film, SUBMERGED, is a world set in symbolism as a woman is trapped by her own feelings. She is left alone, during a time that she desperately needs another person, which leaves her feeling like she is drowning in darkness as she frantically continues to call and text her “Love.”
Something bad has happened, at first the audience assumes that her love has passed, since he isn’t answering, only for the truth to be discovered when she opens a bathroom drawer filled with pregnancy tests. This is the final plunge after years of trying for a family, with hope being dashed and this woman being left alone to deal with the news at the most inopportune moment. She has been submerged into a state of desperate psychosis, needing her “Love”, only for him to be unavailable at this moment.
Penélope is fighting with herself. Symbols to show her drowning manifesting in the form of a fish and water. There is dripping water, as she sits in shadow clutching her phone before she sees a fish. After she finds the drawer of pregnancy tests, she begins to see herself as a fish out of water. Lost in the world with no one to help her. She even begins to fight with herself as she drowns in a tub of water.
This film speaks to an unexpressed taboo that many women deal with when it comes to infertility and the feelings that come with it. Penélope shows what there are no words for and what the burden many women bear in silence when they learn that they can never give birth. She shows how devastating the news truly is and why a woman should not be left alone when given such a tragic diagnosis. The actress gave an award winning performance to depict a topic that many people are uncomfortable with discussing, even though it plunges many women into a deep depression where she feels like she might never surface again like it did Penélope.
When an eccentric park ranger crosses paths with a grieving hiker, he offers his help in finding the perfect spot to scatter the hiker’s father’s ashes. As they venture deeper into the remote wilderness, the ranger’s true intentions begin to blur.
When Alan’s father passes he is tasked with fulfilling his dad’s last wish by scattering his ashes in the Sierra National Forest. As Alan is taking a moment to grieve he encounters Ranger Dan, who offers to help him find the perfect spot…But not everything is what it seems.
Set in 1978 the Cinematographer and Director, Sean Cruser did an excellent job in making the entire film look like it was from the late 70’s. The attention to detail in the costuming, hair, and makeup was absolute perfection. Even the score added this nostalgia but also a sinister undercurrent.
Tyler Beveridge starred as Alan and wrote the screenplay for this film. The storyline is so engaging and written beautifully. Tyler understood how to build the suspense without giving the twist away. At the same time giving you a little morsel so you think you know what’s going on when you don’t. That in and of itself is next level writing, not to mention that Alan’s acting chops are also top notch! Murphy Patrick Martin portrays Ranger Dan and I must admit, the southern accent threw me and pulled me out of it for a moment especially when that accent started to fade but by the end, it made so much sense!
The entire cast did a wonderful job and everything about this short film is unbelievably clever, including the title. The Nature of Death – a smart play on words and a bit of foreshadowing. If national forests and parks didn’t make you feel uneasy before? They will now.
A young woman enters into a journey of self-exploration, discovery, and identity. As she travels through the ephemeral, working through her understanding of self-perception, other travelers within the same universe try to join. These travelers soon realize that her story is not for them to mimic or assume, but to discover through their own experiences. They learn to accept that one can be empathetic to the experiences of others, without being central to the plot. These travelers become members of a creative community, observing and understanding a greater universal struggle: accepting oneself as a thread within the fabric of existence, and not the fabric itself. The young woman continues on her journey within the greater schema of reality. She endures everything and nothing all at once—accepting her present reality for its momentous nature, knowing it will be quickly lost to the vastness of time.
Matter is a meditation on identity, community, and the space between individuality and collective existence. The film follows a young woman on a journey of self-perception, where others attempt to step into her story only to realize it isn’t theirs to take. Instead, they’re reminded that empathy does not mean centering oneself in another’s path. Her movement through the ephemeral becomes a mirror for our own human tension: wanting to be both unique and connected, both the thread and the fabric.
The film opens in a stark white space, sterile and stripped down, our main figure in black, her face concealed by a helmet. The contrast is striking. A jazz-like wind instrument plays faintly, textured with background noise as if we’re overhearing it at a small cafe. Movement begins, fluid and deliberate, and the costuming folds into the choreography so naturally it feels like an extension of the body itself.
Soon another figure intrudes, removing the helmet, followed by more dancers drifting into the frame. At first, their presence is ambiguous. Are they invading her space, or offering community? That tension lingers as bodies multiply. Movements ripple, one blending into another, pairs forming and dispersing, a current of mimicry and fluidity that raises the question: how do we hold our own shape while surrounded by others?
Each dancer gets moments of individuality, flashes of expression through body and gesture. Yet as the camera widens, the ensemble surrounding them looks heavy, even sorrowful. Drooped shoulders, bleak expressions, a kind of condemnation of the one in focus. The group closes in, zombie-like, pushing forward and down to the floor. It reads as a physical metaphor for the struggle between breaking free and being pulled into the conformity of the whole.
The cycle repeats. The crowd fades, only for smaller sets of dancers to return, layered routines intersecting within the same space. Background noise swells, reminding us that life is always filled with unseen passerbyers, strangers whose presence is felt even without direct contact. Dancers clutch their hearts, shield their faces, run corner to corner grasping for any sense of individuality in a space that keeps inevitably folding back into the group itself.
The film circles back to its beginning. The helmet returns. The original figure collapses, body limp, hand dropped lifeless to the floor. The black helmet rests ahead of her, now transformed into a symbol of both burden and release, maybe even death. The film leaves us in that stillness, confronting the inevitability of returning to matter itself.
Gabe Katz’s hand is present throughout, not just as choreographer, but as a guiding force across costuming and the emotional architecture of the piece. Paired with Sam Gendel’s soundscape and the minimalist staging, Matter becomes less about watching a performance and more about feeling through one. It asks us to consider the truth that we are both small and infinite, fleeting but part of something vast.
We are matter. Sometimes we feel like the center of the room. Sometimes we dissolve into the crowd. Either way, we are here.
Omar is adjusting to life overseas. A call from back home changes everything.
Review by Andie Kay:
There are some films where you can write a few sentences about the story to wet the reader’s appetite to see the film. This isn’t one of those films. You need to experience all 8 minutes of it and let it wash over you. It will change the way you look at life.
Here’s the thing…Mikey T and Raul Davis told a story that was so beautiful in its subtle eloquence. Nothing was overstated, nothing was spoon fed to the audience with a wink wink nudge nudge and I admire that. The filmmakers had a quiet confidence that their audience would get it, and wow – did we ever! This is what film making is all about.
Mikey T did a sensational job directing this short and Raul “Blaze” Davis starred as Omar. Everaldo “Pukupoo” Creary portrayed Chardo and their performances were absolutely fantastic. So much so that I found myself getting emotional right at that 7 minute mark. So congrats boys, that’s not an easy feat, I assure you.
The cinematography was really lovely thanks to Bryan Ribeiro and I adored how Donald McGregor and Kosmo Young gave us some exceptional close up camera angles to add depth and texture to the shots.
Take the 8 minutes to watch this film, you’ll thank me later…
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Batman Beyond: Return of the JokerDirected by Curt Geda
Screenplay by Paul Dini
Story by Paul Dini Glen Murakami Bruce Timm
Based on DC Comics characters
. It is the third film in the DC Animated Universe and is based on the animated series Batman Beyond while also serving as a continuation of and resolving plot points from Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. The film features the DC Comics Batmen Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) and Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle), as they try to unravel the mysterious return of the former’s archenemy, the Joker (Mark Hamill), preparing a climactic showdown with the villain.
The film was heavily censored following the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and WB’s objection to its content, causing its release to be delayed from Halloween 2000 to December 12, 2000. Subsequently, the PG-13 uncut version was released on DVD on April 23, 2002.
Starring: Will Friedle Kevin Conroy Mark Hamill Angie Harmon Melissa Joan Hart
Production companies: Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Warner Bros. Animation
Release dates: December 12, 2000 (NR cut version) April 23, 2002 (PG-13 uncut version)
Belong to you follows a swimming pool employee who thinks about his relationship with his coworker on a quiet night.
Review by Andie Kay
There are so many different kinds of love. Love of family, friends, romantic love of a partner and the love you feel for someone but they are unaware of your feelings. Unrequited love is the most difficult love to experience for so many reasons. What if they don’t feel the same way? Or you know they don’t feel the same and you wish they did? It’s such a complex conundrum of emotions.
Belong To You handles this subject matter with such eloquence that even if you haven’t experienced unrequited love, you can relate to it. Isak Magnusson and Oliver Solberg directed and wrote the script for this short film that tugs on your heart strings. The acting talents of Gudsteinn Fannar and Margret Rosa were wonderful. Each of them was so believable and real before the camera that you felt their emotions.
I was so impressed by the script and the actors but also the cinematography. So much of this film was shot in the evening, and Agust Vidar Davidsson did an amazing job with the lighting. This was complimented by Adam Emil Rikhardsson’s work as Director of Photography – it was absolutely stunning. One of my favorite moments was the silhouette in the water of the two main characters as they sat at the edge of the pool. Exceptional job on this film and it’s a must watch!
During the Covid-19 lockdown, “Stigma” explores the emotional impact on Bochra, a young woman living alone in France. Through webcam exchanges with her parents in Tunisia, Bochra struggles with painful memories and a dark past. Confronted with solitude in her Parisian apartment, she faces shadows of her past, gradually revealing a deeply buried trauma. The film delves into themes of resilience, the importance of family bonds, and the quest for self in an isolated world, leading to a poignant revelation.
The short film STIGMA is a powerful narrative that delves into many themes through the use of symbolism and character exploration. It seems to have an element of ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS twist as the story depicts the desperation of parents to save their daughter through a video call when they can’t physically get to her location.
The story is heart wrenching from the first moment when Bochra’s father appears on screen. The filmmaker makes the audience think the film is a science fiction world with the outstanding special effects and makeup design, though quickly makes it clear that this is a dream world of the girl’s father. A symbol of the man feeling powerless and silenced as he can’t save his child from drowning in her own world. He and her mother are desperate to save their daughter from her pain, wanting her to look at them as they literally watch the life drain out of her. Their screams penetrate through the screen and it’s only their love that echoes into Bochra’s drug induced hallucinations.
As life begins to drain from the young girl, it begins to get hard to tell what is real and what is fake for her. It gives a Wonderland vibe as Bochra begins to go between the world of the living and the dead. She sees everyone she’s ever loved and everyone who has ever hurt her outside of a train. The story makes the character come to a powerful choice, where it is up to her to decide if she wants to continue to live or if she wants to die.
The biggest question that remains is if the entire film was a hallucination for Bochra as she has a picture frame of a cemetery. It leaves the question open to if she really was talking to her parents on the video call or if she got off the train to join them in heaven. The film shows both realities, her parents crying through the video call and Bochra getting off the train to meet them in the clouds. This leaves it up to the audience to determine what really happened to the fate of this young woman.
Ella and her friends take a weekend getaway to rural Australia to disconnect from their devices and reconnect with one another. However, an evil presence has other plans for them.
This riveting short, Sentient, taps into the concept that obsession with social media can cause people to mute their sentience, or ability to experience true human emotions and experiences.
The plot recounts a story about close friends launching into a getaway weekend as painful losses and truths are explored, with social media addiction being much of the culprit. As in classic horror, the lead protagonist is like the untouched virgin as she is “not on social media” and therefore is “not a threat” and is protected from harm.
The four main performers do justice to their places in the narrative, all delivering text in believable, conversational style, which serves as a foil to a zombie-like presence of characters once “infected” by AI. The pristine, modern home for the weekend escape is a perfect setting for this piece and makes the convincing gore seem even more graphic. The expert camera work helps create suspense and intensify the drama, as do the fitting musical choices, notably sombre keyboard for sad scenes and heavy rock during the wild party scene.
A viewer can glean a strong message of warning as the credits role. We sentient beings must steer clear of the dangers of sacrificing human connection to social media fixation, or risk losing those closest to us.
Festival Reviews 