Smile.

SMILE. is a film spanning little over eight minutes, but a film that cannot be judged solely based on its short length. Contextually, it is like the old school method of developing photographic film – minute after minute, an image starts to manifest itself until you see a fully developed picture. There is a lot that happens in its narrative and each passing minute becomes a darker shade of the preceding minute. It is also a solid metaphor but like elaborate paintings by Caravaggio and Diego Velázquez – baroque art if you will – the narrative peels away, layer by layer, until all you see is the beating heart of a beast.

The setting is the claustrophobic enclosure of an instant photo booth. David steps in to have his picture taken but his conscience has a story to tell. Like staunch Catholics in a similarly sized confessional booth, David narrates an incident that gets dark and twisted towards the end. His past is troubled but the photo booth serves as a confessional, an opportunity to vomit the poison that has been residing in him since he was nine years old. The story doesn't have a happy ending but David uses us – viewers standing in for a Catholic priest – to offer judgment until he eventually finds absolution before managing a smile for the camera.

It doesn't matter if you have never been inside a church's confessional booth, but débutant film maker Adnan X. Khan makes it clear that no matter who we are or where we come from, we all have demons eating at us from the inside. Written and directed by Khan, SMILE. is an intriguing story that holds your attention all through its eight minutes of run time. Using just Sylvania flashbulbs at perfectly timed junctures for visual effects, Khan's narrative is a diabolical analogy akin to our deepest and darkest secrets. And trust me; everyone has at least one repulsive, albeit recessed, shard of memory that does not fade with age. This is where Khan shines as the screen writer but his most triumphant moment is in getting unknown actor Justin Michael Terry to take an unsuspecting audience by complete surprise. As David, Terry exudes the sort of semblance you would expect from just about anyone who passes by on the street. The driving mechanism in this film is the question that it asks – what if you were able to stop a passerby and see into his or her mind or soul. Terry answers that question in a single continuously shot take thanks to the director's well written script and perfectly filmed setup, but be prepared for a smack in the back of your head when you learn what David and his audible conscience wants you to hear.

Besides the theme and how Khan has chosen to unfold his narrative, there is a lot you can take away from this film. For starters, the next time you look at a perfect family portrait, pause for a second and think about what dark secrets those pretty smiles could be harboring!