Our first short comes from Belgium. It begins with a woman traveling somewhere in a car, her face and the driver both unseen. She calls an emergency dispatch operator. After a minute of awkward conversation, it soon becomes apparent that the woman is in the car against her will. That she’s been kidnapped. The operator soon grasps what is happen. Now the two must communicate obliquely, not alerting the man as they try to determine where he is taking her.
“A Sister” creates a very tense situation. The particularities of this story, of having to communicate what is happening without revealing any real details, is a great set-up for a thriller. With little music, “A Sister” mines this set-up for as tension as possible, the man remaining unpredictable, his captive being very uncertain, and the woman on the line quietly talking along best as she can. The execution matches the terse premise, watching from the cramped interior of the car. We rarely get a good look at what’s happening and that only increases the tension. [7/10]
“Brotherhood” follows Mohamed, a Muslim shepherd living in Tunisia. The oldest of his three sons, Malik, returns home unexpectedly... With his Syrian wife, pregnant and totally covered in a burka, in tow. It would seem Malik, against his father’s will, ran off to fight with ISIS. Though the mother tries to keep the peace, Mohamed is soon challenging his son’s extremist beliefs. Conflict inevitably arises within the family but all is not what it seems.
Here in the western world, we tend to think of ISIS and Islamic extremists as strictly a Middle Eastern problem. So it is interesting to see a Tunisian perspective — with a cast of largely red-headed, fair skinned actors — on this topic. If “Brotherhood” was content with just being about a father and son having different beliefs, and the conflict that arises, it probably would’ve been pretty compelling. The acting is strong and the direction is naturalistic. Instead, the short throws in a plot twist that completely changes the course of the story. Worst yet, a twist based in a character needlessly withholding information from another. There’s a confusingly hectic climax after that before an abrupt ending. In other words, this feels like a feature length story cut down to a twenty minute short. Despite a promising beginning, “Brotherhood” doesn’t hold together. [6/10]
In “The Neighbor’s Window,” a busy middle-age couple raises three hyperactive kids in a crowded apartment. This leaves little time for anything else, the mom being especially exhausted. One night, they notice a new couple has moved into the apartment building across the street. They are young, constantly throwing exciting parties, and having enthusiastic sex in front of their open window. The married couple are envious of their neighbors’ youthful life style and soon become obsessed, watching them whenever they get a chance.
Though its premise seems more fitting for Hitchcockian thrills, “The Neighbor’s Window” is a rather sentimental drama. Yes, this is a story of married, middle-age malaise. The couple have the kind of arguments you’d expect, with the woman complaining that she is the only one raising the kids and the husband bitching that they don’t have sex more often. As you’d expect, something happens with the couple across the street that makes them appreciate the life they have together anew. Once that shift in the story starts, it’s really easy to figure out where this is going. The moral of “the grass is always greener” quickly comes to mind. While I can kind of appreciate the symmetry in the ending, “The Neighbor’s Window” is undeniably maudlin and heavy-handed. [5/10]
It wouldn’t be an Oscar season without an incredibly depressing, based-in-fact live action short! “Saria” is inspired by the 2017 Guatemala orphanage fire, in which 41 teenage girls died after a fire broke out in a “safe house” for orphaned and troubled youth. Abuse was common, including sexual assault and beatings. Following a protest by the teens, a large group of them escaped the building... Only to be caught and returned the next night. It was then that the fire started. “Saria” follows a young girl named Saria and her friend trapped in this hellish situation.
So yeah, this is a giant bummer. “Saria,” like so many of these nominated shorts, throws us right into misery and torment without much warning. Within minutes, the girls are being beaten and abused by authority figures. I want to say the adults are cartoonishly evil but, considering what really happened, I guess the film is being realistic. At least “Saria” attempts to provide some heart to this tragic, gruesome tale. The relationship between Saria and her friend is quite sweet. All the young actors are teens from an actual Guatemalan orphanage, so presumably they can relate. The final sequence, when the blaze begins, is chilling in how awful it is. I’m glad the filmmakers brought some attention to this overlooked, real life tragedy. Yet these “misery porn” shorts just tend to make me feel numb and slightly irritated. [5/10]
We return to Tunisia for the last short of the night. “Nefta Football Club” begins with an unusual sight: A donkey, hulling a basket, wandering the desert with headphones over its ears. A pair of young boys, riding a dirt bike and arguing about their favorite soccer players, stop by the Algerian border and discover the strangely accessorized beast of burden. They also steal the bags of unidentified white powder on the animal’s back. Yes, the kids have stumbled upon a very strange drug smuggling ring.
“Nefta Football Club” stands out from the Pack by being the token light-hearted short. The logic behind why the donkey was wearing headphones is explained by the two clueless crooks, which goes in an amusingly absurd direction. Watching them bicker about pop stars is the comedic highlight of the short. I wish we spent a little more time in the kids’ world, as we barely get to know them before the trouble starts. Their banter is realistically childish and the actors do a good job. The film is leading up to a goofy final joke, which ends things on a fittingly funny note. However, this is a 17 minute short that easily could’ve been about ten-to-twenty minutes longer. [7/10]
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