Deep Freeze

While making love, Michelle and Ron get a knock on the door. Ron answers to take delivery of a fridge that has been willed to Michelle from her dead father. She initially refuses it but Ron takes it. However the resentment Michelle feels for her father is manifest in the fridge and her relationship with Ron suffers.

The plot of this shorts sets out to be a deep look at a woman's sense of resentment towards a father who was distant from her and then committed suicide. She didn't even go to his funeral and seems to have no pent up feelings that she allows to come through. However the arrival of the fridge works as a metaphor for the resentment that sits inside her that she cannot ignore. This as a core works quite well but the film takes it a little too far and tries to do things that appear to be meaningful but never work as well with the core.

The addition of a surprising amount of nudity (Michelle's feelings laid bare?) and images such as Michelle lying `in-state' inside the coffin (dying to her feelings?) are well presented but not as meaningful as I think they were meant to be. The final scene (which clearly represents a closure) is obvious but quite funny - I hope it was intended that way.

The cast are good although neither manage to deliver characters for whom I immediately felt understanding - although 10 minutes is a short time and this is difficult to do. The main power of the short is the story and this works pretty well in and of itself. Sadly I felt that the director over-egged the cake a tad and he took away from the good idea.

That said, I still felt this was a good short and enjoyed it, but couldn't shake the feeling that this could have been better if it had been scaled back a bit in terms of meaning and such.