I’ve been conflicted on whether to write my next review on this short. While I enjoyed it and thought I might have enough to say about it to fill a blog post, the metaphors of the pressure to give up on being creative might not click with an audience of aspiring writers. But then I realized that this is actually a great case of a couple of writers turning their negative experiences into a good horror short.
So today, we’re talking about “Carrie’s Doing Great” written and directed by Alex Salkicevic and Bryce Kraehenbuehl. It is now streaming on Alter’s YouTube channel, and you can also watch it at the end of this article. It might inspire you to submit to the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The Plot
The titular Carrie is an unemployed aspiring video game developer who lives with her unsupportive parents. While she’s working on her game, she is faced with pressure to actually get a job, and be like everyone else her age. And what’s more, a gruesome black mark has appeared on her arm, and the people around her are starting to act weird. It turns out they have other plans for her.
The Greatest Terror of All
At it’s core, this short is about trying to be a creative in a world that wants you to be like everyone else. Art is a notoriously difficult career to be successful in, and it can be hard to stay on the path. This is a struggle that every artist has had at some point, and I guess it’s safe to say that the makers of this short have probably had it too. And they’ve drawn on that to make this short. “Carrie’s Doing Great” is a film about something scarier and more real than a monster or a ghost: the idea that you may not reach your full potential.
And it does this with some very creepy atmosphere and visuals, such as when the townspeople get together for one of their bizarre rituals, and it also has some good acting. Carrie is a very sympathetic and relatable character, and the enemies are pretty scary. The ending is very bleak, but this is horror after all. Besides there’s no shortage of films about people reaching their dreams, and this short stands out in that regard.
Conclusion
This may seem like a particularly downer article, especially since my last two were about funnier topics like penis snakes and whatever the hell Self-Assembly was. But I’d prefer to look at it this way: the creators of this short were able to draw on their struggles to make a successful short film. And if they could then why can’t you?
Check it out here.
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