Now That You're Mine-
Aava takes her new girlfriend out to her family’s old summer house to meet her sister. What was supposed to be a fun weekend clearing out the house turns into a dark journey of suppressed memories and dangerous relationships when Aava starts remembering what she has preferred to forget. As the past treads out of the fog, tension and jealousy rise between the three young women, and Aava starts to distrust everyone – even herself.
There's quite a lot to like with this short. That it builds the horror slowly with the ominous scenes here of the brief signs of the past trauma coming back to the forefront of their trip, including the skipping record triggering flashbacks of the fateful incident, the drama associated with their time along on the island together and the gradual reveal of long-held secrets between each other that are soon resolved only for a new one to emerge, creates a fine hypnotic gauge over the piece. It might be too subtle for some who more a more obvious and expressive horror antagonist rather than something psychological which is the case here as the sedate pacing combine with the relationship trust issues in place of scares might make this come off a drama for far too much of it's running time. Still, the impressive technical aspects and finale make up for these slight issues.
Lose It-
Trapped in her home, a woman descends into a disorienting panic.
This is a pretty confusing short. While the idea of what's going on is genuinely frightening and chilling, that little makes sense as the context of what's going on is missing. That t seems to just go throw the motions of rapidly taking all of her sense away and only making it obvious after the fact is a rather odd way of instilling fear of what's happening, although this does have the added bonus of bringing on some genuinely creepy moments as this becomes clearer. Given some fantastic make-up work and a wholly impressive outcome that has a lot to like, there are some redeeming moments to be had here.
The Dinner Party-
In the aftermath of a climate catastrophe, a lonely former environmental activist invites three strange guests over for dinner.
This was another rather odd entry. That the behavior of the guests as well as her growing unease with the situation the longer they stay at the table barely comes close to any sort of genre setup, as the back-handed comments and inside quips about their past encounter that broke them up to begin with seem ominous but nothing much is done with either of these aspects. Given the need for washing everything aside for the sake of mental sanity and not dealing with the situation which is where this one works the bet barely giving any real genre elements and a confusing finale that doesn't resolve anything, this comes up a little short.
Fat Henry-
An actress named Jada is desperately seeking acting gigs after a rough stint out of work. Willing to perform in any low budget project, Jada finds herself agreeing to be in a feederism/mukbang film, being shot by a disturbing character who refers to himself as Fat Henry.
This short was highly enjoyable and quite fun. The overlong beginning, despite hammering home the same aspects about her that we've already known by the third line of cocaine she snorts or the drunken stupor she keeps around the bathroom, showcases the desperation and willingness for the job perfectly. This enables us to understand why she has the need for the continued shoot which gets creepier and more unnerving as time goes on and with her already unhinged mental state from her drug abuse leading to a series of hallucinations that threaten the integrity of the shoot. While the final revelation and twist might seem like a bit of a cheat given what it implies compared to the action previously shown, on the whole, this was quite an enjoyable and disgusting effort at times.
Stucco-
While hanging a piece of art in her new home, a woman knocks a hole in the wall, revealing what might be another room. Her mind races and unravels as she wonders what could be on the other side.
For the most part, this was a rather fun effort. The general idea of the escalating events within the house, from the spreading stain to the ominous hole on the wall as well as her crippling agoraphobia, offers up a fantastic setting to go off in various directions. Exploring the psychological with the paranoia involving noises in the hole to the existential involving her belief about the origins of the houses' troubled past, all of these elements combine together into a fantastic, frenzied final reveal which comes across as far darker than what had been expected. Graved with impeccable effects work and a slew of chilling visuals, this had so much to like about it.
This overview ran as part of our remote coverage of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival. Click the banner below to check out our coverage of the event:
This also ran as part of our Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our reviews and interviews about the occasion:
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