“Model Citizen” – Obsession Spirals Out Of Control – Horror Short Review

A winning smile and an ordinary request are the unwitting catalysts for a dark obsession. The short film, “Model Citizen” by writer and director, Rachael Dahl takes an unflinching look at stalking and gender violence playing now on Alter’s YouTube channel.

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The Plot

The film opens on a bright, sunny day. White picket fences, a father and son playing catch, a friendly postman, Harold, greeting neighbors along his route. The scene is unsettlingly “perfect” and reminiscent of the 1950s “Leave It To Beaver” television show complete with music of that era in the background. The story quickly focuses on the civil servant as he walks to a dented mailbox. Harold fumbles to open the metal box. A pretty blond pregnant woman, Ms. Hubbard, greets him. Harold’s eyes study her. She politely asks that he take a package from her home that is too heavy for her to handle in her condition.

Harold focuses on her smile and an innocuous statement Ms. Hubbard makes while retrieving the package – she wishes she had a man handy with a hammer. This throwaway sentiment sparks Harold’s obsession with her. He believes he could be that man.

While in his garage, Harold surrounds himself with a miniature model of the town including a replica of Ms. Hubbard’s home. He works on the figurine of his obsession painting her smile and other features. He daydreams about coming home to Ms. Hubbard, showered with attention from her. He is the master of his domain in a constructed fantasy of how he sees (or wants to see) the world around him. Unfortunately, the problem with fantasy is that any crack in the façade can destroy the illusion.

Harold’s illusion shatters the next day.

As he heads to Ms. Hubbard’s home with a brand new mailbox to replace her dented version, Harold spies a man with her on the doorstep. Ms. Hubbard has a husband. Harold hadn’t considered she was married. This sets him off and spells disaster for Ms. Hubbard and her happy home.

What Lies Underneath

Gendered violence and stalking are not new topics to explore in a film but “Model Citizen” takes a swift 14-minute run time and packs a sinister punch. The model building is an excellent metaphor for the false, manufactured thought process inside Harold’s head. When Harold destroys the model village he painstakingly created, it demonstrates his willingness to obliterate and erase something that no longer fits his image of perfection. That includes Ms. Hubbard.

“Model Citizen” puts the misplaced rage found too often in society under an uncomfortable microscope. Just as Harold takes a hammer to his obsessions, Dahl takes a hammer to the random nature of gendered violence and it’s shocking.

Even the title has an unnerving duality to it. Harold is a model builder creating a micro world in his garage (and in his mind) but he is also a model pillar of the community hiding the machinations of a deeply troubled man.

What Makes It Killer

“Model Citizen” draws a clean line from innocent encounters to diabolical outcomes. There’s no sliver of doubt where the viewer could say Harold had reasonable expectations and, therefore, a right to fulfill his desires. Ms. Hubbard was innocuously pleasant, you know, nice to Harold. Dahl brutally demonstrates how no good deed or niceties goes unpunished in the mind of a barbarous individual.

“Model Citizen” is a handful, to say the least. It is a challenging watch but one that is well worth it.

Watch it below.