You'd think that with a title like 'Dawn Of The Deaf (2016)', the picture would be a comedic spoof of the zombie genre. That's not what it is, though. It's actually a pretty grim drama that depicts the moments leading up to a cataclysmic event through the eyes of four deaf people. The storylines play out in tandem, the piece cutting between them as its in-world doomsday clock ticks ever closer to midnight. The stories increase in intensity until they crescendo in a unifying moment of disaster that essentially serves as the inciting incident for a much wider narrative. That narrative is clearly what the director is interested in telling, as the short very much feels like a pilot for a much larger affair. To that end, it seems ever-so-slightly inconsequential. Yet, it's still an entertaining and effective experience in its own right. One of its storylines is incredibly uncomfortable (and I'm not sure if it's entirely necessary), while the others are much less intense and don't strictly suggest that the short is - or, at least, is leading towards - a horror film. Again, that's not an inherently bad thing. Ultimately, this is an engaging and well-made effort throughout. I'd be interested to see its concept explored further, and that might be happening sometime soon given Rob Savage's current career trajectory.
