Mohammed

This wonderful short is carried by Kayvan Novak, who delivers a beautiful, subtle and innocent performance. It is not often that one comes across such a versatile actor. I studied Psychology and his portrayal here was spot on! While known mostly for comical stuff, his dramatic skills for more serious roles (such as this one) are terrific. I will recommend this to everyone as many people in my country (Portugal) currently know the actor from the What we do in the Shadows series and I'm sure his acting style here will be a big surprise to many. Kudos also to the writers, I loved this story so much. Very peculiar, original and heartfelt.

Adam is only 12 years old but finds himself frequently responsible for this 31 year old brother Mohammed, who has learning difficulties and is obsessed with superheroes. With their father long gone and only their mother left to support them, Adam is isolated from friends due to the requirements from his family situation. When a group of older boys reach out to him, it seems that Mohammed may have his uses after all.

There are a couple of things trying to go on here at the same time. First we have a sort of period comedic air, with lots of references and 1980's material littered around, as well as a sense that the whole thing represents a more innocent time in some ways. Within this we have a story of a young boy struggling with the demands of his family situation, as well as resentments that he both feels and knows he shouldn't really feel. This family drama aspect leads to a more exaggerated situation where he comes to understand how his brother feels about him. The film has a difficult task to try to balance these two aspects and be able to deliver a touching personal story but at the same time have that comedic touch which allows the viewer to go with it when the film plays out its more exaggerated sequence. It is a difficult balancing act to pull off and unfortunately it doesn't really succeed at either.

This is not the same as saying it fails though, because it doesn't fall over on itself; the cheerful intent and heart of the material and the film generally is apparent, and it does have just about enough going on to be appealing, however there is a lot of scope for polish here. The first half of the film is probably too serious and too focused on setting the frame – the boys, the challenge with Mohammed, the opportunity for the second half of the film, the mugshots on the television etc, all of these things seem too much in the service of the narrative. The reason this was a problem for me was that it reduced things down to the moments rather than letting it flow – and once it starts to feel like a checklist of things the viewer needs to get, then it feels less organic. The weakness in the first half meant it didn't charm me and didn't draw me in, so when the second half of the film comes, I didn't have any vested interest to go with the flow and appreciate the moment and the characters; and on top of that the second half of the film feels just as functional as the first.

It is a real shame because there is a lot of talent here. Novak is disarming with his innocence, while Revri is convincingly natural in many ways (although not all) and is very good considering he had never acted before. Thompson is reliable and a good presence in the film even if her material is limited. The production generally is also of a high standard – good locations, good picture/sound, and generally well put together (with a surprising amount of good music too). However the weakness is in the material and in the failure to wholly blend the heart into the comedic into the dramatic and to do so with charm. One can see what the film is aiming for, but it doesn't really pull it off.

Mohammaed is the story of two brothers, the eldest, Mohammed (A stunning Kayvan Novak), has mental difficulties, which puts the pressure on much-younger Adam (Jayden Revri) to look after him on a day when he simply wants to head out and see a film, whilst their mother, Emily (Sophie Thompson), has plenty on for herself. A trip to the bank is the dominant setting for all the neatly-juggled dominoes to fall, and to take a light comic drama and turn it into a fun action movie. It's always a delight to be watching something that hits strong emotional beats with the script, finding honesty, but also takes into account the enjoyment of popcorn cinema and finds ways to lace the ideas and tones/visual themes into a project, and Mohammed is the kind of short with grand ambitions and effective designs to match them. Once the world is carefully established, the dynamics of the leads formed and fused for the audience, the film could take easy directions to hit hollow but effective-enough discussions on mental handicaps, carers, sibling bonds and the importance of family, but casing it in a pseudo- superhero movie (A pseudohero movie?) makes the pieces fit into an exciting tapestry that is carefully constructed so-as to not loose track of the balls of drama juggling in the air, but rather deliver home-runs based on each of the concepts examined in the short time frame, with the use of tension, thrills, big comedic beats and some exceptional dramatic moments that creep up when you're not looking and hit you harder than a Hulk fist.

Mohammed is the director's fourth short film, and as writer as well his voice and style is becoming confident and unique, taking ideas and elements from what has come before and packaging it up in ways as yet not seen, and it's very exciting to think of where the people behind a film like this will go. One of the strongest short films in recent years, the definition of a must-see.