Short Film Review: Still (2024) by Rakefet Helene


A despondent mother's reality crumbles as she faces the unthinkable.

For the most part, this was a really impressive genre effort. The whole setup expertly captures one of the more genuinely chilling concepts imaginable with the glowing mother desperately trying to figure out what happened to her son as the early work here shows that her belief in his presence serves this quite well. Trying to understand the twist reveal of what's happening when she meets the mother at the park and what happens when she can't find him becomes genuinely terrifying as the panic and confusion of the situation is played off perfectly where focusing on trying to make sense of the inherent scariness of everything. Playing incredibly well with the idea of whether or not this twist is going to be followed through is a great way to propel this along with some fantastic imagery to trick the audience with what's going on, and by playing off that trickery for a somewhat surprising finale is a great touch that makes this a wholly impressive feature.

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