There is a certain simplicity to this film that, although not providing impressive visual effects and thrills, does aid the film in keeping grounded in reality. The narrative sees a couple discover a patch of burnt grass in their backyard – or rather their dog discovers it, shortly before he suddenly vanishes then appears a short distance away, with an exact duplicate next to him. Experimenting with the patch of grass, the couple find that it seems to recreate any organic material they put on it; this discovery leads the man to great caution, but for the woman it becomes more of an obsession to experiment more.
Like all great sci-fi, this short film is driven by that core idea, and the small nature of it means that it stays within the realm of real life rather than spiraling out into a fantasy world – even though the specific events are of course just that. The delivery is perhaps given an overly dark tone early on, which I didn't think it really needed, but the events that unfold are interesting regardless of the slightly heavy hand delivering them. The effects are limited to old fashioned split screen and use of carefully placed body- double; I would be lying if I said it didn't stand out as such, but it doesn't hurt the film because it is not overly used. Instead the focus is on the consequences. In this way the film does satisfy with a nicely shot ending where we see the emotions of realization wash over the character, seconds before we see that there is no learning or remorse here, however again I didn't totally like how overly- imposing the delivery was – not suggesting it should have been played sweetness and light, but I would have been fine with the film trusting me a bit more to read the tone rather than have it pushed.
I would have liked the duality of the character explored a bit more before "the tragic event" occurs, as this would have added more engagement for me, but it did still work and the way that it is brought to a close did mean that my interested continued beyond the final shot as I was allowed to wonder about the last few seconds and where things go from here. So, for its flaws in delivery, it is still an engaging short thanks to the idea and the dark narrative.
Like all great sci-fi, this short film is driven by that core idea, and the small nature of it means that it stays within the realm of real life rather than spiraling out into a fantasy world – even though the specific events are of course just that. The delivery is perhaps given an overly dark tone early on, which I didn't think it really needed, but the events that unfold are interesting regardless of the slightly heavy hand delivering them. The effects are limited to old fashioned split screen and use of carefully placed body- double; I would be lying if I said it didn't stand out as such, but it doesn't hurt the film because it is not overly used. Instead the focus is on the consequences. In this way the film does satisfy with a nicely shot ending where we see the emotions of realization wash over the character, seconds before we see that there is no learning or remorse here, however again I didn't totally like how overly- imposing the delivery was – not suggesting it should have been played sweetness and light, but I would have been fine with the film trusting me a bit more to read the tone rather than have it pushed.
I would have liked the duality of the character explored a bit more before "the tragic event" occurs, as this would have added more engagement for me, but it did still work and the way that it is brought to a close did mean that my interested continued beyond the final shot as I was allowed to wonder about the last few seconds and where things go from here. So, for its flaws in delivery, it is still an engaging short thanks to the idea and the dark narrative.
