by INT. IN A LIVING ROOM
Sitting on the couch, takes a sip of her coffee as she leans back.
Aaaah… short films, man.
Short films are somewhat controversial because many people believe they don’t take you anywhere. Some people think you should save the money until you have a bigger picture in mind. Other people think they´re a great alternative when we face a lack of resources or material, taking us closer to a feature film. I think they keep us close to the art of filmmaking. What I mean by that is that many times we distance ourselves from art because we’re trying to survive or make ends meet. Short films keep us grounded, reminding us of our artistic purposes. One of my teachers used to say, “make a band”, meaning we should constantly work on artistic projects that tie us back to our purpose and poetic essence.
In my opinion, short films carry certain beauty because you never know when you’re going to run into a gem on the wall. Since they are independent, filmmakers can take risks; they don’t have the pressure of big production companies expecting a narrative, a certain message, and they don’t have to cater to a certain audience. Short films are allowed to exist in their true selves. It doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad; they’re always honest.
I was recently recommended by a friend to watch “Other Side of the Box”, directed by Caleb J Phillips, and I was amazed by how masterfully it builds tension. It is a horror short film without any gore, blood, or violence. Deeply ingenious and creative. The story follows Ben and his girlfriend Rachel, who are visited by Ben’s old friend, Shawn. Shawn gives them a mysterious cardboard box and insists that Ben open it immediately. The box turns out to be bottomless, revealing a dark void. Shawn tells Ben he must never take his eyes off the box.
The Other Side of the Box: https://youtu.be/OrOYvVf6tIM?si=3M6v7nnYH5CuA3Vn
Ben investigates what the box is about and throws a pencil in it. He never hears the pencil fall; however, it falls back on the floor after a while. When Ben and Rachel turn their eyes away, testing the box, a giant, wet, expressionless man peeks outside the box. The man mimics their voices and manipulates their perceptions.The film’s suspense grows when Ben and Rachel struggle to understand the box’s nature and the rules governing it.
Frustrated and annoyed, Ben leaves Rachel staring at the box and drives to Shawn’s house in search of answers and help. Shawn insists he should’ve never left Rachel by herself, as he specifically said Ben should’ve been the one staring at it. Then he tells Ben not to go back to his house, but he ignores him once again and goes back. As soon as he arrives, there’s no light, Rachel is missing, and there are wet trails around the house that lead Ben to a wet knife on the floor and the basement. Downstairs, he hears Rachel but finds her naked and wet in the shower. When he turns around to look at the stairs, four unrecognizable wet people are staring back at him. The expressionless man is in the bathroom, looking at him as well. When he turns his face around, the wet people approach him more and more. In the meantime, the man threatens him to turn off the light. In the end, as he kept looking away, the wet man touches the lightbulb’s cable with his wet hands, then everything turns dark.
Themes in “The Other Side of the Box”
Water, darkness, and electricity are key elements that explain the story, the horror, and the themes. What amazes me about this short is how even a kitchen knife with no blood and only drops of water surrounding it can appear so threatening and scary. It allows viewers to imagine whatever, even the worst. What can happen with water and a knife? Did it slip as someone tried to kill with it? Was the victim harmed, in the end, with water instead of a sharp weapon?
The horror of this film delves into uncertainty. How uncertainty and lack of information scare us and give us anxiety in our day-to-day lives. Even a dark room could be imagery for unpredictability. When we don’t know what might happen with our lives, our situation, or even what is going on in our surroundings, it can feel nerve-racking as things could turn out right or the worst thing possible might occur. The darkness represents that lack of information necessary to jump into a conclusion and, at least, think of an escape plan.
The darkness and the water remind me of Thalassophobia: being in deep fear of big bodies of water. Firstly, because they are dark, the sunlight only gets through a couple of inches, and then it’s pitch dark, but also because you can drown in them, by yourself, and surrounded by the darkness.
Water in this short represents a threat, perhaps death, being around the corner. Water is usually associated with life as it creates it and mantains it, but it can also strip it away. If you take too much of it, you drown. However, there is also an interesting game between darkness and water as it is associated with the lack of power. Few things are as deadly as electricity and water combined, in the end, the expressionless man turns the light off, but could it be that he didn’t do so but rather created a short circuit meaning death or the end of Ben?
Ben never followed Shawn’s instructions as told, we could argue he has issues following orders. Could it be that the horror in this short film is also based on the consequences we can face if we don’t do as told? Ever since we were children, we’ve been threatened with the idea that if we don’t obey something bad is going to happen to us. Of course, as children the consequences are quite innocent. But what would happen if we were threatened as adults by an unknown entity?
Viva Les court métrage!!! Short film festivals to consider:
Top International Short Film Festivals
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival – France
Palm Springs International ShortFest – USA
Sundance Film Festival (Shorts Program) – USA
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF – Short Cuts) – Canada
Berlin International Film Festival – Berlinale Shorts – Germany
Aspen Shortsfest – USA
Tampere Film Festival – Finland
Encounters Film Festival – UK
Uppsala Short Film Festival – Sweden
HollyShorts Film Festival – USA
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA) – Japan
Tribeca Film Festival – USA
SXSW – USA
Leeds International Film Festival – UK
Odense International Film Festival – Denmark
Flickerfest – Australia
Genre Films (Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy)
Fantastic Fest (USA) – genre goldmine.
Sitges Film Festival (Spain) – top horror/fantasy/sci-fi shorts.
Shriekfest (USA) – indie horror.
Fantasia International Film Festival (Canada) – cult classics and new voices in genre.
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