The Awareness

... almost no information, minimal character building, not to mention the usual inept business of an illegible computer screen which fails entirely to invite us in. It's odd, how the worst offenders in this regard tend to be near-novices making short films, who waste a hefty percentage of their run time boring us to tears. It's a disintinctly odd phenomenon, and Dunham is sadly no exception.

The dialogue, too, is remarkably weak, beginning with something akin to "hey, you're a moron, but let me ask you a critically important question...."

A janitor is cleaning up in a small tech startup firm when he finds one of the computer engineers working late. The engineer mocks him about his lowly position in life when compared to his important work, before leaving to go home. The janitor carries on but soon the "work" the engineer spoke of starts to communicate – an artificial intelligence which is held on a server disconnected from the network. The computer informs the janitor that tomorrow the engineer will ignore company orders to shut the computer down and instead will release it, which will see it then "solve" all the problems in the world by wiping out humanity. The computer needs help to prevent this.

Although the cinematography here is very dark, it perhaps suits the tone and atmosphere of a short film which begins with cruelty and ends in a satisfyingly cruel way. In the middle we have a nice dialogue sequence between the computer and the janitor where tension is raised and kept high. There is a brooding darkness to the whole piece as the janitor tries to make his decision and, although it is a big story to tell in such a short film, it actually works very well to have it condensed down. It does feel like the start of something bigger and aside from one or two limiting aspects, it does feel like a bit expensive project. The performances are mostly good – the janitor is well played by Bent while Porter is importantly rude as the engineer. Himadeh's voice is well used as the machine.

Dunham directs well albeit with a dark palate. His brooding atmosphere works very well and the conclusion is particularly memorable and satisfying. Very tightly done piece of sci-fi.