Over the years I have increasingly given up on going to the cinema for the summer blockbuster season, preferring instead to pick them up on-demand once the turkeys have flown and the better ones remain; I guess it is too many years of watching spectacle over substance? It is weird then that I am mostly pretty fine with the same situation in a short film, not sure why, although I guess if a 5 minute film has no substance then it can get away with that much better than a 160 minute Transformers film. Anyway, Isolated is one of those films and falls very much into the world of spectacle and impact rather than having a rich narrative.
Just like the driver who wakens at the wheel of his crashed taxi, we are thrown into the aftermath of something; as the driver gets out and the nature of that something becomes clear, from there it is basically a chase scene across a familiar horror movie cityscape. There is a bit of a plot about the passenger in cab being involved in the events that follow, or the mission that lies ahead the driver, however these are really not explored so if you do try to follow the film for the narrative then you will be left with slightly frustrated questions.
The better thing to do is to enjoy the speed of the film and the manner in which it is delivered. The computer animation is of a very high standard; okay it has the usual problems of people not quite looking realistic or moving in the right way, but even with this it is astounding to find this level of effects in a short film. The use of this world is also impressive, with good atmosphere, sense of dread and threat throughout – it does feel like a sequence from a bigger film. As a horror it perhaps doesn't have the fear and terror that such a scene would need to really work (I am easily scared by all zombie products, but yet this was not too bad on me), but in terms of pace it is enjoyable for how much of a sense of urgency it has.
Limited as a narrative and perhaps as a true piece of horror, it is still a very impressive piece of computer animation, and has a very enjoyable sense of urgency and scale about it which justifies the 4 minutes it asks of you.
