Set in a future where global warming has destroyed the planet to the point that one of the few places that remains habitable is an ice- free Antarctica, we join an attractive young couple in the wake of an accident the man has been involved in. His injuries do not appear terrible, but impact to the head has caused memory loss and confusion; the woman attempts to work with him to remind him who she is and, more importantly, who they are.
Technically this short film is very impressive in terms of how it has been made. The choice of locations, with good set design, costumes, camera effects and special effects all come together to create a convincingly sterile world of the future; okay perhaps the detail and background of the world and how it now works is not as good as the visual presentation, but it works for what it needs, because this is only the background to the story (albeit an impressively done background). The short credit for what it actually tries to do, because this is not a 'look at my effects shots' sales pitch, but rather a narrative that looks at the nature of relationships and love in the context of the future. It plays out slowly but in a way that is mostly interesting; I will say that the nature of the plot means that it probably plays better in retrospect, since aspects of the plot are only clearer by the end of the film, but this is a necessary construct.
It does move slowly though, and perhaps feels a little overly earnest as a result – staying with some scenes longer than necessary and perhaps pushing too hard for the cold, sterile world of the future feel. In context of the film when you look back after watching it, most of this is justified and fits with the context, it is just as you watch where maybe it is not as effective. The performances match this tone; both Rios and De Balma come over as attractive but emotionally cold, which at first I put down to stiffness in their performances, although this does again work in context.
As a whole Similo works, although it is not without aspects on which you need to go with it and perhaps do work yourself. It is maybe a little too slowly paced but the tone of the film is at least consistent and, while it looks great technically, this is never allowed to be the core of the film as instead we get an engaging and interesting piece with plenty to think on afterwards.
