The Etheria Film Night film fest continues here at Killer Shorts with the remaining five films from the event.
The 2021 Etheria Film Night features nine films directed by women placing their talents at the forefront of the film industry.
This week we’re highlighting the final five shorts from the Etheria Film Night event now streaming on Shudder through July 25.
Visit the 2021 Etheria Film Night website to cast your vote for this year’s audience award.
Misfits ★★★★
Written and directed by Ciani Rey Walker
And then there’s real horror. Writer-director Ciani Rey Walker takes on the abomination of racism that haunts America to this day in her film Misfits. Set during a turning point in civil rights history, this film tells the story of group a of people who not only had plenty to say about it, but struggled to negotiate their own differences on how to react.
After a white police officer injured in the race riots that occurred in response to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination is brought to the local Black Panther chapter house, two sisters who are also leaders of the group are at odds as they work out the most appropriate response to the situation.
This film is as packed with as much conflict and confusion as the era it’s set in, as we learn the man who shot the officer is not only white but a friend of the group, not to mention the reasons why the sisters, played by Fatima Faris and Danielle Sappleton, have their own justified differences on how to handle the situation. And if this isn’t enough to get your anxiety going, a fellow member of the group who was attacked by the officer in question fights for his life.
Just when you think there’s a straightforward answer to all the trouble that’s bottlenecked into this film, the meaning of the title hits you square in the face and you realize what a strange and emotional situation you’re in as it gives perspective, even if the slightest, for each character’s plight. Now, who’s the misfit.
In an interview with The Guardsman, Walker says that growing up in the Playa Del Rey area of Los Angeles afforded her a “a lot of perspective in just the African American diaspora in its entirety…interacting with actual Black people and seeing that we’re all so different.” Which is exactly the set of ideas this film plays to, shattering stereotypes especially those evocative of the era that Misfits is set in.
The emotional overload dealt in this film is almost too much, and it could be argued that there’s a lot of plot getting in the way of the story. Sure, if you were dealing in a realm based in fiction, but for my money Misfits is a real horror of the scariest kind: the kind that tells us more about ourselves than we care to realize.
The Gray ★★★
Written and directed by Myra Aquino
When you’re a parent, the name of the game is sacrifice. Not only is Officer Perez (Caesar James) a parent, but he’s also a former police detective who now works in Purgatory processing people to Heaven or Hell based on a quick review of their time here on Earth. And as if this weren’t locked and loaded with more guilt than a confession box after a Saturday night, writer-director Myra Aquino defies her Catholic upbringing by subverting old fashioned Good and Evil morality in her film The Gray.
Purgatory Officer Perez is no nonsense when it comes to shelling out fate. After quickly determining a former pharmaceutical executive as Evil and damning him to burn for eternity, and allowing a little indecent exposure to slide for a sweet old lady—conveniently and cleverly named Lucy Ball—Perez’s son Carlo (Nand Mahasuwan) is next in line for eternal judgement, and that’s when Aquino lets her Filipino roots of struggle and sacrifice rip as Perez takes the “unforgivable” route to making sure Carlo gets another shot at life.
Giving the afterlife a cute Department of Motor Vehicles spin certainly takes the anxiety out of facing the hereafter, but Aquino makes death a mundane ordeal—which it most certainly is since it’s coming for all of us; your DMV status of eternity may vary depending on your inherent guilt and belief system—that’s wrought with bureaucracy, personnel, and my favorite thing, signage. Aquino’s Purgatory is filled with tiny details written on Post-It notes, overhead projectors, computer screens, and bar charts. Blink and you’ll miss these fun little particulars. It’s worth it to press pause a few times to take it all in. And while a real DMV is often more frightening than the prospect of death, Aquino’s world makes the afterlife a comforting inconvenience waiting in line as eternal judgment is doled out for everyone at the end.
Eventually, Perez puts his own fate “unforgivably” on the line to send Carlo back to Earth, at first burying the morality needle in the red. But a sweet little rule Aquino places within the world of Purgatory not only clears up the gray of that realm’s inherent indifference but lets us know that Perez may be off the hook because of his parental instincts.
Three stars.
Polvotron 500 ★★★ 1/2
Directed by Silvia Conesa
This is one of those neat flicks that goes the high-concept route to tell us things about ourselves we either don’t know or refuse to admit—in this case genuine human connection. And Silvia Conesa’s Polvotron 500 (a.k.a. Shagomatic 500) takes the scorched-earth-Blade Runner-holographic-sex-worker road to get there. Who knew an over-populated, cyber-punk reality with an Only Fans vibe could tell us so much about ourselves?
After Charly (Gerard Matarí) wanders into a Polvotron 500 booth that looks like the floor of an old 42nd Street theater from 1974, he accidentally activates the hologram Niky (Nuria Deulofeu) who’s job is to fulfill his every desire up and including urophilia. The thing is, Charly doesn’t want any urophilia. He doesn’t even want any good old-fashioned emetophilia. Charly just wants to take a nap.
So here we are, hanging out with Charly the sleepyhead and Niky the holographic sexpot—whose ten-minute timer is probably only barely long enough to satisfy anyone’s fascination with coprophilia—which becomes an inadvertently profound moment to ponder how the act of sleep got all tied up into sex, but I digress. Anyway, we’re at an impasse because Charly doesn’t want what Niky is hard selling. Charly is absolutely serious about catching some Zs because in the dystopia we’ve found ourselves in, it’s cheaper and quieter to rent a nasty sex booth than to live in the crowded community homes of the future. Translate that to relatable present times: we could all use a little peace and quiet now and then.
As these two wait out the clock for Niky’s program to end, like two strangers at a bus stop or in a bookstore in a Woody Allen movie, they start to loosen up and get friendly with each other. No, not friendly like that, you pervert! They start to get to know one another and we find out that in a sort of tragic way, Niky may not be as holographic as she seems, and that they’re actually, very adorably enjoying one another’s company. And of course, like anyone you’ve ever made a connection with, your sex timer runs out just when things start to get interesting.
The bottom line here is these two are falling in love, I daresay, making love where it typically would not occur—in the nastiest place between here and Tannhauser Gate. And if you want to transcend this scenario further, they’re loving one another in spite of the fact that one’s a hologram and the other is human. This evokes a purity in human relationships, which we all can agree, the world could stand more of today. You never really wanted zoophilia, but instead, you identify with this human connection and you realize how precious and in short supply these moments are in the world.
Eye Exam ★★★
Directed by Aislinn Clarke
I’m not saying you should be cautious of “free eye exams,” but if your free eye exam involves you asking, “what is that?” and the answer being, “that’s an eye scoop,” then maybe some red flags should be going off, because your friendly neighborhood eye doctor typically doesn’t just keep that tool lying around.
This is how Ellen’s (Irene Allan) free eye exam begins, and as she’s going through the tedious process of answering the usual questions, “is this clearer? … or this?” she gets the sneaking suspicion that maybe there’s more to this free eye exam than meets the eye. And by “sneaking suspicion” I mean mysterious figures appearing in the exam room with her who have growly, evil-sounding voices that do not belong to optometrist Dr. Lucius Renfield (Richard Addison).
Good on you, Ellen, because usually a situation like this is beyond the tipping point for whoever the poor soul is getting their free eye exam, and before they know it they’re on the business end of that eye scoop the doctor was explaining at the beginning.
And bravo, director Aislinn Clarke and writer Jack Tarling for subverting our expectations here and getting Ellen out of that exam alive and with both eyes in tact. Sorry, spoiler alert! The best stuff about this very short, but effective flick is Ellen’s realization in the middle of it and of course the brief reveal of the unsightly horror behind it all.
Anyway, the lesson here is, some things must be seen to be believed.
Who Goes There? ★★★★
Directed by Astrid Thorvaldsen
A period western with the same title as the John W. Campbell novella that John Carpenter’s The Thing was based on? Sign me up! My expectations for this were loaded from the get-go, and rarely is anything ever very satisfying with so much promise right out of the gate. Astrid Thorvaldsen’s Who Goes There? however, does not disappoint.
This film never admits to being based on the same novella that Carpenter’s The Thing was adapted from, but William Gillies’ script sure as hell evokes a similar tone of paranoia, desolation, and madness. In Campbell’s novella the culprit going around body-snatching people was an alien. In this film, we’re dealing with none other than Old Scratch himself.
Three Norwegian girls whose parents have died are left alone in the Minnesota prairie. Ada (Rikké Haughem) is sick and dying, Liv (Siri Meland) spends most of her time praying and refuses to speak the tongue of the devil (you know, English), and Ingrid (Nina Yndis) is the only sensible person around. That is until one day when an outcast arrives outside their home looking like he lost a fight with Lucas McCain. But oh, he was on his way to see a patient, and was attacked by bandits. What’s that? He’s a doctor? And before we know it, Ingrid has invited this “doctor” into the house to see what he can do about poor, dying Ada.
If you were on the fence about Ingrid’s decision-making abilities, well, the fact that the Outcast (Liam McMahon) doctor needs to be left alone with poor, dying Ada to perform “a procedure not practiced by many doctors, but by those with faith,” should put you in the This-Can’t-Possibly-End-Well Camp.
The next thing we know, crosses are flying off the walls, Ada is waving around a shotgun, and my personal favorite horror trope, we got a person on fire, and it’s all beautifully shot to the tune of films like The Searchers and Days of Heaven. Not to mention we’re also dealing with the most terrifying of horror scenarios that being an identity crisis where there shouldn’t be an identity crisis, and it’s all tied up in a big Satanic bow. And what we have is a confluence of sheer terror and paranoia that’s beyond anyone’s control in an unnerving finale that’ll have you asking, “Who goes there?”
Short films are often written off as something lesser compared to longer films. Maybe it’s because no one really wants to admit that short films and their creators truly make the most of the time they’re using, and like a great joke, often pack a more powerful punchline that resonates for longer in our consciousness than three-hour cancer dramas or face-melting blockbusters.
Think of the shortest films of all: paintings or photographs and how much those mediums speak to us and stick with us over time. We even hang those on our walls to look at over and over! The short film is only a few moments longer than the greatest art masterpieces in the world.
These creators, their unique storytelling, and their powerful human messages are just a few examples of the best of what short films are capable of.
Watch the 2021 Etheria Film Night shorts on Shudder, now streaming through July 25.
