𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬▶ 𝗩𝗛𝗦
I have been rewatching a lot of movies, and the other day, I watched the 2022 experimental horror film Skinamarink. It is a movie that I greatly enjoyed, and later in the day I saw that 4 Plus ( a YouTuber) had made a video about the proof of concept for the movie. It was a short film titled Heck. And before I watched the video, I went and watched the short film, so I could form my own thoughts and opinions on it.
Now, if you are familiar with the feature film, the premise and plot are mostly the same, but there are some minor changes, so I'll give a summary of the short film so we're all on the same page.
Summary
The audience is placed in the perspective of a young boy, as his house and life shift and distort. For days, he walks around his home, engulfed in darkness, occupying his time by doing things any child would do (playing, colouring, watching tv) and the like, and it grows clear over time that he is alone in his situation. More and more time passes as he searches for his mother all around the house.
Days turn to months, months to years, as the boy begins to grow hateful toward what is implied to be his mother. We get a quick view of the mother after a few years in the film, and we see that her mouth is no longer on her face, leaving her unable to speak to her son, who is in as much distress as she is. The boy apologizes to his mother for something out of his control, the fact that he fell ill with cancer. By the end of the film, the boy calls out to his mother, proclaiming that they are in hell, leaving us with a final shot of something peeking around the banister at the bottom of the stairs, staring directly at the audience.
Review
I LOVE a good weird and experimental horror movie. While this movie is more heartbreaking than horrifying, it still makes a good horror movie. The cinematography is beautiful, putting us in the body of a child, morphing our world to have us be small and helpless. This is one of my favourite things about the feature film, that a lot of the horror of the story comes from being a child being placed into a situation that cannot be explained and being defenseless in said situation. The boy's childish reactions to the horror around him are heartbreaking. You, as an outsider, are stuck with a sense of horror at the fact that you cannot help this boy.
The suspense built throughout the film does fall a little flat in some places as there aren't any real jump scares or jarring moments, but I think that they still help with the worldbuilding of the situation. The character of the child and the absence of the mother make for the emotions of this movie to really pop, as they are two poor humans with a pre-established relationship that is now being strained by forces we cannot understand.
This works as a really good allegory for the cancer that the boy has. It leaves the child alone and confused as the mother is pulled into a silent depression that leaves her unable to communicate with or care for her son. It is greatly tragic for both parties.
There are so many more things I love about this short film that I can't exactly put into words (probably not good for a first review lol), but I think that everyone should go watch it. Even if you are not a big fan of horror or experimental movies, it is a worthwhile watch that I think everyone could pull something from.
𝟬𝟭:𝟯𝟱
𝗦𝗘𝗣 . 𝟬𝟯 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟱
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