Tag Archives: Indie Film

Short Film Review: Animals (2026) Duration: 22 min 20 sec

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So much of art is about metaphor and subtext, the delicate balance of communicating larger ideas into a seemingly unrelated storyline. When done successfully in film, the main narrative can stand alone as an intact, cohesive whole in which layers of commentary are woven into the piece so subtly they often require scrutiny and reexamination to fully unveil. When done unsuccessfully, the subtext is just text and the narrative and rules of the world that the film establishes go out the window in favor of heavy-handed messaging. Animals tells the story of Zoya (Serine Sianosian) a young woman of Muslim descent who is visiting the house of her recently deceased mother. When a mysterious white woman (Rachel Alig) shows up unexpectedly saying she booked the place as an Airbnb she quickly becomes an unwanted guest who won’t leave.

The reason the characters’ race is important to note is because this film is about colonialism. It’s fully and entirely about colonialism to the point where it has to bend over backwards to wedge all the key aspects of such a vast and complex subject into a short story about an online booking mix-up. It’s unfortunate because while the film makes valid points and brings up important topics that most people would rather sweep under the rug than think about it does so at the expense of telling a story that can stand on its own. Instead, we watch an unrealistic situation play out between a spineless doormat and an obvious lunatic.

Its a shame because the film is well acted and decently shot but it was fighting an uphill battle from the beginning in trying to condense an idea that big into any kind of short narrative. Colonialism isn’t something that occurs as an isolated incident that happens overnight and as such effectively portraying the metaphor requires a medium that can give the idea enough space for world-building and character development. The slow burn of the established reality giving way to an unrecognizable new one needs to unfold insidiously under the veil of banality because when the temperature goes up one degree at a time, the frog doesn’t realize he’s swimming in a cooking pot until its too late.

Availability: Unavailable

Currently there is no release date for the film but more info can be found on the film’s Instagram page

Short Film Review: Projection (2025) Duration 12 min 44 sec

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Balancing the “show don’t tell” concept in filmmaking can be difficult but writer/director Ari Groobman threads the needle perfectly as he incorporates just the right amount of backstory to flesh out the narrative in Projection and the results are very compelling. When a young woman, Hayley (Preslea Elliott) is fleeing a difficult situation with her younger sister Katie (Mikey Gray) in tow she finds their new apartment less than inviting. Nevertheless, they need a place to lick their collective wounds and what starts as a tense, ominous situation quickly escalates to a surprisingly gruesome and brutal climax.

Groobman doesn’t need a lot of dialogue to convey the underlying messages about trauma, abuse, and the struggle to feel safe while judiciously laying the necessary foundation for an engaging story. I was absolutely in from minute one and would gladly have stayed for another ninety to see this idea fully fleshed out and expanded upon. Its abbreviated length still works as a complete experience and beyond the story itself there are many other aspects that work in concert to create a compelling film. The acting is great across the board and everyone feels exceptionally suited to their roles. Every scene is very well shot, the use of low-light, forced perspective, it all comes together beautifully and is capped off with some truly incredible practical effects that are sure to please any gorehound.

Now the question becomes “can a work of brilliance be undone by a simple mistake?”. The short answer is “no” in this case, but this genuinely excellent film is hamstrung by an error in judgment that taints the whole experience. Yes, despite making so many great choices throughout the process Groobman somehow managed to commit the cardinal sin of using the dreaded canned scream. Clearly the actors are more than capable of using their real voices throughout but in one key moment he decided to throw in the same bargain-basement “scream” noise that has been kicking around consumer-level sounds effects packages for decades.

It’s baffling because such a pivotal, emotionally charged moment is so thoroughly undone by this awful noise and there is no world where this otherwise incredible film isn’t better for removing it. The fact that this is a near-perfect piece of art is what makes this moment so much more noticeable but other than that it’s an exceptional work by a director I hope to see more of going forward.

Availability: Unavailable

Currently there is no release date for the film but more info can be found on arigroobman.com

Short Film Review: Sin Salida (2026) Duration 16 min 17 sec

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When a group of twentysomethings break out a mysterious new drug at a birthday party, they soon have much more to contend with than their fractured relationships and interpersonal drama. Sin Salida (which translates to No One Leaves) is the new horror short by Paraguayan filmmaker Carlos Mendoza and is a prime example of how a clever idea and innovative techniques can add immense production value to even the most modest budgets. Mendoza does an excellent job judiciously dispensing enough backstory to flesh out the characters without sacrificing the momentum of the short runtime and makes brilliant use of the single location. The lighting effects are very well executed and Mendoza displays some great technical skill with long unbroken shots and interesting, fluid camerawork. A strong entry from an up-and-coming filmmaker that’s well worth keeping an eye on.

Availability: Unavailable

Currently there is no release date for the film but more info can be found on the film’s Instagram

Short Film Review: Nymphal (2025) Duration 22 min 18 sec

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When a shlubby, middle-aged single dad is in desperate need of rent money, things go from odd to full-blown crazy in this unique and increasingly bizarre short. Nymphal is definitely an unconventional film and when we are introduced to our silent protagonist flopped half-naked on the bed it’s hard to imagine where it will go or the strange route we will take to get there. Thankfully by the end things do make sense (including the odd title) or at least as much sense as they are going to make.

While it is delightfully strange there is a method to the madness and the film stays true to its own internal logic, never devolving into nonsensically weird for the hell of it. Writer/director (Joe Pellegrino) was clearly working with a shoestring budget but is able to squeeze a lot of production value out of this shoot and incorporates so many great touches of subtly surreal world building that flesh out the story. The giant gangster landlord, the weirdos buying toys, and of course the excellent fake TV commercial that gave Mandy vibes in the best possible way. It all leads to an unhinged conclusion that I won’t spoil here but with a total runtime of just over 20 minutes is well worth seeing for yourself. That being said, the overall pacing would benefit from a bit of trimming and tightening but regardless it’s still an effectively creepy and unusual film that deserves a wider audience.

Availability: Widely Available

The full film is available on the director’s YouTube channel @joepellegrinofilm

Short Film Review: Beyond the Moonlight (2025) Duration 9 min

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In terms of production value, short films really run the gamut from goofy DIY productions slapped together with little forethought in someone’s backyard, to slickly produced professional pieces with Hollywood-level craftsmanship. With recording and editing equipment being more accessible and user friendly than ever, barriers to creating a film have never been lower, but the ability to create a good one remains as difficult and elusive as ever. Regardless of the tools and technology, the biggest factor in determining the quality of a film is how well it’s able to succeed on the most fundamental level of being “a good story, well told.”

With a total runtime of just nine minutes and the film itself being contained to just over six, Beyond the Moonlight doesn’t have a lot of runway to work with but from the beginning is able to establish a level of quality with rich atmosphere and beautifully executed shots. The story follows a young woman (Isabella Jaimie) furiously practicing ballet at night and performing for a strict task-masker (Alexandra Almendarez) who keeps demanding more from her. The film at this point gives strong Suspiria vibes and effectively builds tension with excellent camerawork, well-crafted lighting, and a particularly impressive shot that utilizes mirrors to great effect.

While I applaud the use of practical effects here the main misstep in the film is the fundamental tonal shift at the end that takes a tense and intriguing set-up and puts a button on it that’s downright hokey. The idea itself is solid and had the scene been taken a little more seriously, it could have ended on a much stronger note. That being said, I was still left wanting more as this whole film really just hints at the beginnings of a larger story and fortunately the short is already being adapted into a one- hour TV pilot. I’m truly intrigued to see how that goes because if writer/director Natalie Rodriguez is able to strike the right tonal balance we could have something really interesting here.

Availability: Unavailable

Currently there is no release date for the film but more info can be found on the official website here

White Gardenia – John Calvin and Other Excerpts From the King James Bible (2025)

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Art’s inherent subjectivity is never more apparent than in abstract films. Without a traditional narrative structure and so much of the imagery left up to interpretation, the goal isn’t so much about determining whether something was “good” or “entertaining” so much as it is understanding the artist’s motivation and goals and whether or not they were able to achieve them. Spearheaded by underground artist Daniel Valient, White Gardenia’s John Calvin is in many ways a significant departure from the style and content of their previous works in part because it shifts focus from nudity and self mutilation to biblical stories and also because it represents a collaborative effort with multiple other filmmakers.

Unlike traditional anthologies, the various parts aren’t clearly segmented by filmmaker and instead flow into each other with brief text on screen sometimes indicating the switch to a different segment. The presentation is a real variety of mixed media from static collage imagery accompanied by discordant and distorted soundscapes to live action scenes and old silent film footage reworked and reedited into Found Art style segments. This does make for a bit of an uneven tone as the highly produced black and white scene from Marian Dora (Melancholie der Engel) presents a much more professional tone than some of the less successful live action segments whose costumes and camerawork have a much more DIY aesthetic to them.

This collection is on a whole a very interesting and unconventional piece of artistic expression but is at its least successful when it leans into an over-reliance of on-screen text or direct voice-over to communicate the ideas presented in it. There are a lot of interesting concepts and ideas here dealing with religion, transhumanism, death, and resurrection but I would challenge Valient and the other artists to rely on their talents and abilities to process these concepts through a creative filter and express them more abstractly than simply telling it to the audience. I also found the choice to include footage that was clearly filmed handheld from another screen to be curious rather than just incorporating it into the footage itself.

The times when this film is at its most successful are when it’s able to lean into the surreal and bizarre aspects and run wild with them. The make-up effects on the lepers were truly inspired and genuinely haunting but the most interesting part of this experience is without a doubt the use of the bizarre collage imagery. The use of this creative technique, incorporating some moving images into a mostly static scene, coupled with distorted audio made for a unique and intriguing experience. I also like how the old footage was recontextualized into something strange and new and there were points that were reminiscent of early Lynch shorts and the kind of dark anatomical visuals Marilyn Manson used during his most provocative period. The time-lapse decomposition also brought to mind Peter Greenaway’s deeply unsettling masterpiece A Zed and Two Naughts.

Ultimately, a bit of a mixed bag as collaborations typically are, there are moments of experimental brilliance here and a more streamlined version that pairs down the overuse of text throughout would probably be more successful. While the effectiveness of the overarching message in the film will undoubtedly depend on your personal connection to the tenets of Christianity and interest in transhumanism, I always appreciate art that takes big swings and isn’t afraid to use highly unconventional and experimental ways of expressing ideas.

Availability: Limited

Limited edition Blu-rays can be purchased at Bizarretheater.com

Short Film Review: La Cabra (2024) Duration 14 min 50 sec

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La Cabra attempts to recreate the experience of watching a ‘70’s Satanic Panic cult film with its story of a little girl (Coral Degraves) who has strange encounters while wandering alone in the woods. Given the fact that the title literally translates to “The Goat” you can bet that both Satanism and the aforementioned hoofed creatures feature prominently in this film. I can see what writer/director Toruga was going for here, trying to build tension and dread through an ominous soundscape and scenes of an innocent child punctuated by sinister imagery, but the end result just doesn’t translate to a successful horror film.

Degraves does a perfectly fine job for someone of her age attempting the difficult task of carrying almost the entirety of the runtime on her back alone and the issue isn’t with her as much as it is with the pacing and direction. Even at under 15 minutes, the lack of meaningful onscreen interaction causes this to drag and it could have been a more engaging slow-burn at half the length (starting a short with a full credits roll out doesn’t help either). Shooting horror in broad daylight on a shoestring budget is no easy feat but even with those limitations in place this could still have made a larger impact with more creative camera use, minimizing the screen time of costumed characters, and excising cliched imagery of things like Ouija boards entirely. The sound design is the most effective part of the experience but it’s not enough to make up for the rest of the shortcomings.

Availability: Widely Available

The full film is available on Toruga’s YouTube channel.

The Coffee Table (2024)

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The Coffee Table is in a word…..grim. Even revealing the central concept can take a little of the sting off the gut-punch of the inciting incident so if you prefer to be blindsided by a film that starts with an extremely upsetting concept and spends the rest of the runtime ratcheting up the tension and turning the emotional screws then you might want to go into this one totally unaware. Otherwise read on because I won’t be going into any further spoiler territory than that and there’s a lot to say about this strange, bold piece of cinema.

The film opens with recent parents Jesus (David Pareja) and Maria (Estefanía de los Santos) purchasing a garish coffee table from an unscrupulous salesman (Eduardo Antuña) who guarantees it will bring them happiness. The couple’s already troubled relationship is further strained by Jesus’ absolute insistence on purchasing it which Maria begrudgingly acquiesces to. After setting up the new table at home Jesus is left alone with the baby while Maria goes to the store and their lives are forever changed when an off-screen accident involving the new table ends up…..decapitating the infant child. The rest of the runtime is devoted Jesus’ emotional hell as he tries to conceal the fact from Maria for as long as he can that the worst possible thing has happened while she was gone.

Perhaps the most jarring thing about this film (newborn beheadings aside) is the fact that it feels a bit confused tonally. The quirky opening credit sequence and even throwing the titular line at the end seem to frame this as though it were a fun, gruesome horror film and not the devastating domestic tragedy that it actually is. Strangest of all, the IMDB entry as well as the screener I received pitch this as a “horror/dark comedy” but some inconsequential moments of levity aside, this is a punishingly bleak, tense film that is about as much of a comedy as Come and See. The film has garnered a fair amount of buzz already for being a highly disturbing and upsetting watch and even describes itself as “cruel” on the poster which is fitting as director/co-writer Caye Casas seems to delight in twisting the emotional knife at every opportunity.

Those looking for a film to shock and disturb them in the way that they are accustomed to from Extreme Cinema may be disappointed. While there is some violence in the movie, what makes it a difficult watch isn’t the blood but the fact that it’s just relentlessly sad. Much like the scene of horrific domestic violence in I Stand Alone, this film forces the audience to sit and stew in the aftermath of tragedy, feeling the pressing weight of empathetic grief. This weight is further compounded as scene after scene reinforces how essential and meaningful this baby was to the couple, especially Maria, who continues on blissfully unaware that the unthinkable has already occurred as Jesus slowly unravels, knowing the charade can’t last forever.

None of this is to say that this is a bad or unsuccessful film. On the contrary, it is incredibly well made and superbly acted. The film succeeds at being genuinely tense and disturbing and is an interesting and unnervingly realistic character study on how people react when the most unimaginable horror becomes your inescapable reality. Less a horror film than a really upsetting drama about a horrible situation, The Coffee Table is nonetheless a bold and interesting film that I commend for its audacity, originality, and willingness to engage in an antagonistic, if not outright combative, relationship with the viewer. A worthwhile experience for those bold enough but new parents looking for a fun escape from their exhausting reality might want to give this one a pass.

Availability: Upcoming Release

For some reason this film is listed as being from 2022 in some places but it just started limited theatrical release on 04/19/24 and is coming to VOD and DVD on 05/14/24.

Short Film Review: Ride Baby Ride (2024) Duration 7 min 29 sec

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In Ride, Baby, Ride writer/director Sofie Somoroff utilizes the underrepresented sub-genre of sentient vehicles to deliver a stylish horror short where a female mechanic (Celina Bernstein) must do battle with a monstrous Camaro. The film is incredibly well shot and while its subject matter draws some thematic comparisons to Christine, the surreal style and dark absurdity of the content is more akin to Titane. While the concept might sound silly to some, the execution is not and the underlying feminist message comes through clearly. Somoroff does an excellent job using concise imagery to communicate the feeling of menace and violation the mechanic feels when she is simply trying to purchase the car from a couple of creepy guys in the opening scene. With top-notch production values and a core message that is as relevant now as ever Ride Baby Ride packs a lot under the hood in a fun trip that goes fast and leaves you wanting more.

Availability: Widely Available

The full film can be watched on the Alter channel on YouTube here.

Short Film Review: Fck’n Nuts (2023) Duration 11 min 56 sec

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With Fckin Nuts, writer/director Sam Fox channels the anxiety of introducing your partner to your parents into a short that is as quirky as it is grotesque. The film opens with Sandy (Maddie Nichols) on the phone tearfully trying to reach her boyfriend Dan (Vincent Stalba, The Blood of the Dinosaurs) who, much to her dismay shows, up at her front door. After professing his love for her, he insists on meeting her parents which she is adamantly opposed to and repeatedly states that they are nuts. However it isn’t long before he finally convinces her to let him in and that’s when things really get, well, fuckin’ nuts.

I really can’t reveal more than that, but suffice to say Fox does a great job establishing an ominous tone from the start that pays off in unexpectedly bizarre, horrifying, and just plain weird ways. The surreal style gives off Lynchian vibes with its slightly off-kilter suburban America setting which gets infused with body horror reminiscent of Todd Haynes’ controversial early 90s classic, Poison.

From top to bottom, every aspect of this odd little film feels highly polished and well realized, from the lighting, to the FX, right down to the meticulously detailed set dressing. Fox gives an excellent sense of movement with her stellar camera work that keeps the film from ever feeling stagnant in the single location and the acting from both leads brings the heightened reality of the world to life without overdoing it. There isn’t much more to say, especially as Fckin Nuts is something that really needs to be experienced rather than described.

Availability: Unavailable

The film is currently making the rounds at festivals and does not have an official release date. Check out samfoxyfilms.com for more info.