Nope, there are no robots, no lasers and no spaceships in the CGI-free short film. Instead, the final image is what will stick with you and is what I think motivated the writer/director in the first place: a physically beautiful woman bound to a steel cross inside a stainless steel tank open at the top to a stark sky.
In brief, the plot revolves around a near-future society in which executions are broadcast live on TV (not pay-per-view?). Our heroine finds herself as a "supervisor" to an execution by drowning of a man with a Jesus-like appearance. Her decision to spare him results in her taking his place in the final shot.
For a short film, plot is less of a necessity than feel and technique, and we get those here. Aside from the pointless splitting of images on screen, this is a good-looking movie with a little more on its mind than just a totalitarian regime. Note the repeated use of cross symbolism: the death device, the cross above the viewing window of the death tank, the lead female's position when she falls to the snow and the way the lead characters dance back-to-back. I think the director may have been implying a future that is a result of an unchecked fusion of church and state.
Then again, perhaps our lead character is supposed to be like Jesus, dying on a cross so that another may live. And I believe I have heard that many crucified prisoners drowned due to their lungs filling with fluid; drowning is the method of execution here.
None of this is on the nose or in your face, but it's a testament to this impressive little short that it's all there just below the surface, working on a second level.
On the other hand, there just isn't enough time to get to know anyone as anything other than a viewpoint or a symbol, so the story doesn't have the weight it could if it were just a few minutes longer.
Still, within the parameters of the short film, this is an excellently photographed, professional quality piece that ought to be seen by any sci-fi fan who favors thought over gadgets.
In brief, the plot revolves around a near-future society in which executions are broadcast live on TV (not pay-per-view?). Our heroine finds herself as a "supervisor" to an execution by drowning of a man with a Jesus-like appearance. Her decision to spare him results in her taking his place in the final shot.
For a short film, plot is less of a necessity than feel and technique, and we get those here. Aside from the pointless splitting of images on screen, this is a good-looking movie with a little more on its mind than just a totalitarian regime. Note the repeated use of cross symbolism: the death device, the cross above the viewing window of the death tank, the lead female's position when she falls to the snow and the way the lead characters dance back-to-back. I think the director may have been implying a future that is a result of an unchecked fusion of church and state.
Then again, perhaps our lead character is supposed to be like Jesus, dying on a cross so that another may live. And I believe I have heard that many crucified prisoners drowned due to their lungs filling with fluid; drowning is the method of execution here.
None of this is on the nose or in your face, but it's a testament to this impressive little short that it's all there just below the surface, working on a second level.
On the other hand, there just isn't enough time to get to know anyone as anything other than a viewpoint or a symbol, so the story doesn't have the weight it could if it were just a few minutes longer.
Still, within the parameters of the short film, this is an excellently photographed, professional quality piece that ought to be seen by any sci-fi fan who favors thought over gadgets.