Short Film Review: "Filtered" Is A Solid Slice Of Screenlife
Canuxploitation extraordinaire Vincenzo Nappi just premiered his latest short film, Filtered, at the Cabane à Sang film festival on April 24. The film is the latest short-form entry into the growing screenlife sub-genre, and it manages to pack some laughs and scares into its brief runtime.
Fun with filters results in more than just a good time.
In our opinion, the ever-growing screenlife genre (i.e. a film where everything the viewer sees happens on the computer, tablet or smartphone screen) is more effective in the short-form format, and Vincenzo Nappi’s latest entry is a good example of why we feel that way. No matter how good its concept is, a screenlife film generally can’t hang for feature length (take Timur Bekmambetov’s nuanced spin on the screenlife format Profile as an example); it usually over stays its welcome or can’t maintain interest. However, with the short format, it’s more of a get-in-and-get-out thing. There are short-form screenlife films that can’t quite forge a connection between its characters and the viewer, but Nappi’s fairly inspired Filtered doesn’t have that problem.
After a stressful day at work, Jasmine (played by Jasmine Winter as herself) logs onto her computer and immediately opens up Spotify to unwind with some tunes (who can’t relate with that?!). Before too long, she’s logged into Facebook for a little more unwinding, but is immediately confronted by yet another message from work asking her to work all weekend. Deprived of sleep and suffering from a work-induced bout of melancholia, she reaches out to her friend Marco (played Marco Carreiro, also as himself) for a little support. After a bit of “cringe” embarrassment, Marco attempts to goof around with some filters to try to cheer her up, and that’s when the horror starts to creep in.
The really lovely thing about Filtered is just how genuine and real it feels. One of the pratfalls of short films is undeveloped characters, but Nappi devotes half his modest runtime to giving us a sense of who these people are. The connection between them feels very believable (presumably because Jasmine and Marco have a real-life connection), and the unfolding of their Facebook vid chat feels natural as can be. Best off all, Nappi and company use this character-development time to get our guard down. We’re so distracted by Marco’s “cringe” behavior and his silliness with filters that it’s easy to overlook the horror once it starts creeping in.
Its frights aren’t exactly fresh (the same gag was baked into Jacob Chase’s Come Play), but it is successful at what it sets out to do. There’s an effective jump scare that’s built in, which is further bolstered by the sound design that prolongs its uncomfortable dread through the credits. We really liked how Nappi divided the screen, and that he kept Jasmine in the dark and Marco in the light; this not only gives the film some visual contrast, but they’re ultimately an extension of their personalities. It’s also very nicely paced, and doesn’t over stay its welcome, pinching off at just the right time.
Overall, Filtered doesn’t reinvent the screenlife genre, but it proves to be a solid offering of what is ultimately effective with the computer-screen format. The performances are great, and the atmosphere is palpably eerie. Nappi efficiently uses the short runtime to take the audience for a brisk ride that delivers a solid chuckle and scare.
Recommendation: If you’re into horror shorts or solidly made Screenlife films, definitely give Filtered a watch if you can!
Rating: 3.5 ominously floating filters outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!