I feel the majority of the people leaving views on this short film (in the message boards) are missing the point. Projects like this are not made so much to entertain an audience (though it's an advantage to do so), but to showcase a director or film-making team's talents and abilities in the hope of being signed up to a full scale project.
As with so many such short films we are shown on the UK's Channel 4, I am left disappointed at the resolution of the film, thinking, "Is that all there is?". But as a showcase of what the writer/director can do (and that he can interest a known actor such as Cillian Murphy into working with him), I'd say it was a success.
I often feel cheated when there's no resolution to a short like this, even though I have seen many great movies where the viewer is left to ponder what the final result or outcome was, but I realise it was intended to interest a production company or perhaps a more established director looking for someone to handle second unit duties.
In short (excuse the pun) this was an advert for Robinson, not necessarily entertainment for a regular audience, and in that sense it was successful in leaving people wanting more.
I certainly wanted to know what the threat was to the soldiers, what was going to happen to them in the minutes following the end credits, but (even assuming Robinson himself knew) it was better for his purposes to leave things open-ended so that the aforementioned companies and directors would be intrigued enough to see what else Robinson can do.
All the elements were well executed, assuming this was relatively low budget, from the opening moment where you wonder who the character is going to be, to the end where you wonder what is approaching, the lighting, decent CGI and SFX, and good camera work. this is one short where, although I am annoyed that I am left unsatisfied - confused even - I can appreciate it succeeded in its ultimate task - to create interest in the director.
My score is based on what I believe the film's target was, rather than how much it satisfied me personally (for which it would have scored lower due to the "Is that it?" factor).
