A man wakes up in a trailer being pulled down the road under a scorching desert sun. Despite every effort, he can't get out.
That's it. That's the premise.
'Centigrade' isn't bad. For its simplicity, I personally feel like maybe this is the sort of tale that would be better suited as a written short story than portrayed as a film, but to each their own. More so because, even if the particulars remain to be seen, we can readily guess at the thrust of the narrative within the first couple minutes of the scenario beginning to unfold, and the weight of the story is lessened.
The strength of this picture is in its measure as a small, independent feature, and a showcase of writer-director-star Colin Cunningham's capabilities as a filmmaker. There's nothing groundbreaking here, yet uncomplicated as 'Centigrade' is, it's solid. Whether of themselves or as part of the whole, Cunningham arranges some fine shots while wearing his director hat, with Jonathan Eric Tyrrell's swell editing dovetailing neatly into Cunningham's vision as a screenwriter. That he's also effectively acting for the camera in a one-man show is beside the point, because what's clearly important here is the telling of a story, and the craft behind it: The mounting desperation and frustration is illustrated less in our star's countenance, and more in the camera's record of his hindered efforts.
Strictly speaking I suppose the conclusion is open-ended - and open to interpretation - but again, it feels very clear-cut to me, and did from about the 2-minute mark onward. Nonetheless, I appreciate the ending that we get, and the broader picture of the protagonist's surroundings depicted with several close-up shots and a single very wide one.
The question comes down to whether one is more concerned about an original, engaging, unanticipated narrative, or the quality of a film's craft including direction, editing, camerawork, and so on. 'Centigrade' is sound in the latter department, if perhaps a bit lacking in the former. It's not the most actively arresting short you'll ever come across, but worth watching all the same if you do.
