His Hands, a modern arthouse film written and directed by Arron Blake and Darius Shu, is now available on Amazon Prime in UK, US, Canada, and Australia! Made on a budget of only £400 (roughly $457.18 US) with a skeleton crew, the film ambitiously shoots for the moon and strives to push the boundaries of cinema to greater heights with its hauntingly ambiguous narrative.

Two men of different age meet for the strangest encounter of their lives.

His Hands is an intentionally elusive and enigmatic film that strives to get the audience to think by eschewing a straightforward narrative at every turn. With an emphasis on symbolic imagery that lend themselves to multiple interpretations, Arron Blake and Darius Shu impressively conjure up a film that has more in common with a painting hanging in a museum than it does with most contemporary narrative features. In particular, there’s a strong focus on juxtaposing opposites (pleasure with pain, young and old), which creates nice contrast and excellent moments of unsettling tension that linger long after the fade to black.

An absolute exercise in “show don’t tell” that commendably refuses to hold the hand of its viewer, His Hands is mesmerizing and beguiling in every sense. Defying easy analysis, which may be both a blessing and its Achilles heel (for less refined viewers), the story is left entirely open to interpretation and forces you to try to solve the mysterious connection between the two men, which could either be viewed as a literal or metaphorical encounter. Most impressive of all, the film tells is hauntingly resinous story without the aid of dialogue, so it is completely reliant on its sounds, visuals, and non-verbal performances to convey information.

The film’s story opens the floodgates for a slew of questions, which viewers must sort out for themselves. While things are ambiguous enough for viewers to find their own meaning with the story, there are two essential ways the story can be read though, literally or metaphorically. The more interesting and meaningful reading is the metaphorical, with each character representing a younger and older version of the same individual. Viewed this way, the encounter becomes hauntingly melancholic; it’s like the older version has shunned his true sexuality for a life of loneliness and isolation and is wistfully looking over his shoulder into the past, wishing he’d embraced who he really was.

The film is cleanly composed, erotically charged, and ripe with atmosphere and oddity that you can’t help but lean into it. Blake and Shu’s direction is taut and controlled, with notes of Nicolas Winding Refn, David Lynch, Denis Villeneuve, and David Fincher, and all of their visuals play directly into the film’s themes of acceptance, isolation, ageism, identity and loneliness. The cinematography impressively leverages predominately natural light to lean into the dark, psychological nature of the film’s beating heart. There are many excellent images, but our favorite is of the film’s duo captured in silhouette against a soft bluish-green backdrop that serves up some serious Vertigo vibes.

Everything is tight, controlled, and intentional; even in the ambiguity there is purpose. The performances from Blake and Philip Brisebois are also excellent, full of sexual charge and an ominous sense of longing that add to the intrigue and the film’s ever growing sense of unease. What you’re left with is a film that strives to be pure, thought-provoking Art that creates interesting conversation — and it succeeds.

Recommendation: His Hands is a taut, thought-provoking short that’s masterfully erected. If you’ve got a Prime Video account and 12 minutes to spare, you should absolutely look this one up and hit play!

Rating: 5 smears of lipstick 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!

Viddy Well

Short Film Review: "His Hands" Is Pure Art