‘Familiar’ is a Canadian short film from
independent production company Fatal Pictures produced by Zach Green and
written and directed by upcoming filmmaker Richard Powell. Clocking in at
around about 21-minutes (without the end credits) it tells the dark disturbing
story of John Dodd (Robert Nolan) a normal average hard working middle-aged man
who is seemingly desperately unhappy with life with his wife Charlotte (Astrida Auza) and
their daughter in their suburban home. When he starts to develop psychopathic
thoughts towards his family, it becomes apparent that this way of thinking may
not actually be from his own mind but rather something inside of him - another
being controlling John and manipulating him into violently destructive
behaviour.
Throughout the course of this character study
piece, we are in the company of John as we listen to his inner voice from
Nolan’s narration. During the first half of the short, on the surface of it
from what we hear he is bitter of how his life has not turned out the way he
has wanted it to with the same boring mundane routines day in day out blaming
his partner and his daughter who he considers “parasitic” for his misery.
He talks about how he plans to get away on his own to start a fresh when his
daughter goes to college. These plans are interrupted however when his nearest
and dearest breaks the news to him that they are going to have another child.
This is where John’s monologue takes a nastier turn as the voice inside his
head starts to get more malicious telling him to do the most evil thing
imaginable to the expecting mother to be to get rid of the “problem”
that is in the way. When the voice pushes John even further by trying to get him
to poison Charlotte emphasizing that she will try other ways to have another child to
trap him, he decides he has had enough and fights back ignoring its instructions
in attempt to regain his life. This is where things start to get very ugly (literally)
when John discovers an abnormal growth has suddenly appeared which then
proceeds to move around his body as the vile parasite tries to take back
control of John’s life. This leads to a gorily horrific bloody climax.
One of the film’s most striking features that
you will notice first is the air of confidence it all has. It is just so well made
with its exceptional efficiency in its thoughtful writing and fully capable direction
with lean tight pacing all captured elegantly with crisp clear cinematography supplemented
by easy flowing editing with the aid of the subtly effective musical score
helping to pile on the tension.
Robert Nolan has a memorable presence with those staring
eyes and gives a solid performance bringing together a mix of conflictive reactions
to the tragic events that unfold. His intriguing softly spoken inner monologue
combined with his facial expressions gives us the contradictive personalities inside
of him clashing in a fight of morality. One moment he is an unassuming cunning
psychopath feeling much hatred towards his family and the next he shows a great
sense of underlying remorse for his heinous actions. This cumulates in a battle
of wills between John and his inner monster that is trying to take away his
humanity with Nolan portraying a real tug of war raging on inside of him
tearing him apart. This is brought to a head in a brutally intense and disgusting
conclusion reminiscent of the most potent Cronenbergian body horror works
displaying a gruesomely well-executed special makeup effects set-piece finale.
‘Familiar’ is an intelligently crafted and unsettling experience that is
considerably worthy of just about 20 odd minutes of your genre cinema
loving life. The talent showcased here is immense and it deserves to be a
stepping-stone to the arena of feature filmmaking for the collaborative creative team
here. This short could be your
introduction to bigger things to come from Fatal Pictures.
WATCH THE FULL LENGTH SHORT FILM ON FEARNET
WATCH THE FULL LENGTH SHORT FILM ON FEARNET
For more information visit the official Fatal Pictures website and the official 'Familiar' Facebook page.
*** out of ****
Dave J. Wilson
©2012
Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson - All work is the property of the credited
author and may not be reprinted or reproduced elsewhere without permission.
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