Please Hold

I enjoyed this short movie mostly because I found it relatable. With the privatization of prisons, ran by for-profit corporations with no care for the individual, and with the automation of customer support, the story of a guy who is mistakenly imprisoned and can't get to talk to a human is not too far-fetched.

I would have given it 10 stars if not for some inane details, such as the guy falling asleep while calling the LAPD chief of police. The movie would not have suffered without that silly scene, the call would have cost as much just by being on hold.

I haven't written a review in ages on here, but was very moved by this short film to recommend it as strongly as possible. This is a must-see for every person in the legal profession, or those simply interested in the law and exercising their most basic rights. It should be required viewing in high school.

Please Hold tells a story of assembly-line justice where one is essentially presumed guilty until proven innocent. Detractors who say this is unrealistic are seemingly unaware that a sizable chunk of the world today carries a presumption of guilt. Once must prove their innocence when accused of a crime.

That's in the criminal justice system. With respect to civil or administrative matters, there is no such presumption of innocence. The government has a much weaker standard of proof- the balance of probabilities or the preponderance of evidence, as opposed to beyond a reasonable doubt.

This, combined with the near-unlimited resources of the state are usually enough to crush the ill-equipped individual. Property may be taken with little or no recourse. This is called civil asset forfeiture. I believe this concept is captured well in this film.

Please Hold combines these concepts brilliantly in a way that must be seen to be believed. It watches like a combination of an episode of Black Mirror, A Scanner Darkly (or any number of Philip K. Dick novels), and the current China Model of electronic surveillance, which is facilitated by a merger of state and corporate power.

This film is a warning to us all and it must not go unheeded. The accumulation of powers by law enforcement officers, prosecutors, administrative decision-makers, and other individuals or entities that comprise the executive branch of government, makes this future *very* possible.

The long-term concentration of powers in the hands of the executive- and deference to the executive by our lawmakers, courts and tribunals- is a vicious, unbalanced cycle that can only be reversed with awareness. Please Hold accomplishes just that by bringing these issues front and center to every viewer.

Tell everyone about this film. Arrange viewings. Wake people up who are sleepwalking through oblivion and tyranny. Apathy, fear, confusion and demoralization serve as fuel for the same. As George Orwell said near the end of his life, "Don't let it happen."

The power and velocity with which Please Hold affected me was truly amazing. It triggered a near immediate empathetically emotional response. This short made me feel so anxious and twisted up that I'm still sitting here in a daze while writing this; thank goodness it was only 19 minutes, any more and I'm not sure I could've handled it.

There is little wonder Please Hold is being talked about for awards. Every aspect was excellent, save perhaps the "soft" ending. A thoughtful comment on the present state and trajectory of our prison/justice system, Please Hold is a dystopian postmodern day societal horror story worth viewing. Viewers should be advised to watch at their own risk.

Postscript (since we're on the topic) - It's time to END for profit prisons. One would think this is an obvious error for a modern civilization to stumble into; But here we are, building one after another. For profit prisons can only make money by keeping people locked up. The more prisoners, the more tax dollars that are allocated to that prison. In order to stay "in the black", a for profit prison must continuously stay plus 3/4 full. Minor infractions become months to years tacked on to an inmate's time. Call your government representatives and tell them where you'd prefer your tax dollars be spent. It would be better to spend our tax revenue on just about anything else other than attempting to change Please Hold from fiction to reality.

What about AI? What if every single suspect of a crime was controlled by AI? Get fined and handcuffed by a robot. That's the hilarious and worrying vision this short picture shows us.

Definitely worth a watch. This nightmarish future is closer than we might think.

Short well made look at a potential real situation in near future. Well made, told a lot in the short time given and reminded me of a situation i have been in where looked like proving my innocence was impossible, and would have been if i was not extremely lucky having a witness i did not know i had lol.