'Soulmate' plays with familiar concepts: crumbling world, dystopian future, constant surveillance, laws allowing for sanctioned homicide. Maybe the realization of these ideas here is genuinely fresh and original, or maybe it just feels that way on account of the considerable emotional weight and excellent craft behind the short. Either way, the result is the same: 'Soulmate' is at once terribly bleak, yet gripping.
Even though they are executed well in this instance, at all points I'm ambivalent about the use of voiceovers. Rarely do they sit well with me, as I think their use in most features is unnecessary and annoying. There's at least definite narrative purpose to most of it, here, so that counts for something.
Beyond that, I take no specific issue with the film; on the contrary, there's much about it I enjoy. The visual effects are good, if not uncommon. I enjoy the sequencing, editing, and the general orchestration of each scene. I think filmmaker Nik Kacevski demonstrates fine capability as a director, and more than that - I really like the story he has concocted. He rolls together themes and ideas we've probably seen before into a tale of his own that's engaging, and that carries an unremitting air of dread and sorrow even in moments of tension, suspense, and excitement. Stimulating as the climax is, it's also paired with haunting regret, grief on scales large and small, and a measure of existential horror.
While the atmosphere is pervasive, all this is actualized most concretely with protagonist Mila, portrayed with admirable grace and range by young Holly May Lewis. At all times painted with the dominant colors, the role demands a mixture of emotions from Lewis, and a touch of physicality, and I think she embodies the character very well. Lewis doesn't seem to have any other credits to her name to date, but one can only hope there are more to come.
I especially appreciate short films - genre pieces not least of all, horror and sci-fi alike - that operate with a sense of tragedy as its defining punch instead of more conventional fright, thrill, or achievement. I am so very pleased that while employing tropes we've encountered elsewhere, Kacevski also pointedly aims for that sullen tone and down-note finale.
Everyone has their preferences when it comes to movies, and some of the component parts here may not meet the needs of all viewers. But I very much like what I've seen, and think 'Soulmate' is well worth watching wherever one is able.
