Battered

Shorts can be fun, freed of the conventional arc of storytelling, but this effort jumps around too much. It looks old - I'm not sure if release was delayed - but seems to slip between comedy, suspense, social concern drama, even horror.

Grainy film, Grand Guignol makeup effects, poor sound quality, some flimsy sets, gratuitous nudity ... yet the female characters have personalities, and even the men are not total stereotypes.

A Man Bites Dog-style camera crew is unnecessary distraction, since the women film themselves anyway, and there are confusing jumps in the timeline that are only partly mitigated by changes to facial injuries.

A genuine attempt to get inside a contentious and nuanced subject, sadly let down by flawed execution and sticking around a little too long.