Waking up in a strange place can be an alarming feeling. Anyone who occasionally spends a night in a motel will probably agree. In that waking, foggy moment, being somewhere "random" can be a scary feeling. Until that is, things start falling into place. The colors. The bed. Maybe that crappy television mounted on the wall or sitting on a small table. Eventually your brain takes in your surroundings and fills in the gaps. But what happens if there are no surroundings? Nothing physical to trigger memory? Confusion? Fear? Eventually anger? The mind is a strange thing. Would it really be a surprise if external triggers really are a huge factor in memory? That objects, smells and sounds are needed to trigger your internal picture book? Although I can't be one hundred percent certain, for myself, this is one of the ideas "Where There Is No Exit" plays with quite nicely. Memory is just a set of triggers firing off triggers. Right? If there is nothing... well... you get the idea. Angelo Santos's short film also toys with racism, personalities and fears. All rolled into a neat little package lasting around ten minutes.
Awakening to a room devoid of any objects save some walls, a seemingly normal housewife find herself trapped in a room with no exit. But is she a housewife? It's hard to tell - and the other occupants within the room seem to know just as little as she does. Well... all but one. As "The wife" struggles to find her way out, clues we think contain the reason she's there, are revealed through the other occupants. Sort of. You see reader... "Where There Is No Exit" is akin to watching a classic "Twilight Zone" episode. With that said, nothing is truly as black and white as this short film. What fun would that be? Writing a little on the technicalities on this film, overall, it fared much better than I expected. I always feel that indie short films use black and white as a counter measure, trying to divert attention from equipment they simply couldn't afford. Maybe that actually is the case here - but that doesn't change one simple fact. The colorless nature of this film really did get me in the mood for some weird happenings. In a nutshell? It worked like a charm. No matter the reason. "Where There Is No Exit" actually plays like an old "Twilight Zone" episode. Nothing fancy. Just a weird script and some actors doing their parts. I really did enjoy this one and now, in the aftermath, can't picture it being any other way.
I did however, kind of wonder about the choice to have "The Athlete" wearing a white shirt. Any color other than white - would have been great. The problem was he simply vanished into the white backgrounds. A floating head. Truthfully though, I can think of very little else to complain about. Maybe some awkward acting here and there - but nothing worth mentioning any more than in passing. All in all... I had a fun time watching this... and trying to figure out just what the hell was actually going on. The wrap-up at the end did, mostly, bring the story all together. I did wonder however, if this short film would have done just fine without it? At the end of the day only one thing matters. Did I like it? Yes reader. Yes I did. A solid three stars. |