Last fall I attended the thesis film screenings of USC film students and was blown away by the technical fineness of all of them. Yet Goldfish caught my eye and touched my heart a little bit more than others.
A minute into the movie and you know your protagonist, the central conflict and his backstory. The tone too is abundantly clear thanks to remarkably well written dialogues. To see exposition being done in such a masterful manner, writer/director Sikander Sidhu deserves rich applauds for it.
The production design by Emma Weston is top notch ( As good as I have seen in any good feature film lately). Fantastic job in casting by Victoria Hoffman as all the actors are pitch perfect for their respective roles. Great camerawork (Ante Cheng) and effective color scheme only adds further glory to the proceedings.
On my second viewing I noticed that the main character of Alan doesn't speak a word from 1:14 till 6:16 (whole 5 minutes) and yet we know what's going on in his mind and heart, that's how good the performances are and direction is.
One more thing which really stood out for me was the background score, sound design (Austin Conway), and original music by Marco Antonini. It all fits the bill perfectly for this heart-warming dark-comedy.
The proceedings do get a little bit predictable in the third act but the film manages to convey its message and leaves an impact on you as a viewer.
A huge mention to leads Clayton Farris and Afton Quast. And their brilliant performances are aptly supported by outstanding supporting cast.
To round-off it's one of the best short films I have seen. I highly recommend watching it.
