A Girl and Her Gun

This film follows a little English girl who's life is riddled with bullying, domestic abuse and poverty (there are a lot of uncanny similarities with the film "Fish Tank"). Reeling from the death of a close family member, the little girl confides in old American Western serial dramas where her imagination is free to grow, that is until she finds an old revolver in a cardboard box. The short looks like a million dollars with excellent production values and a great cast but the story drains into the most lazy of endings. There's nothing clever here, no great statement is made despite the directors "gotcha" ending that was supposed to be powerful but just comes across as gimmicky, cynical and gratuitous. 4 stars for the production values.

A mix of western with British drama. With an admirable result. A girl and her dark universe, from home to school. A letter and a gun. And a decision. A precise portrait of evil and about the only form of resistence against it. Beautiful cinematography, impecable performance. And the bitter realism about selfishness, vulnerability and sacrifice. A film about essence of evil. One of the great ones.