ARTEFACTS tells the story of a woman who realizes that her circle of friends are killed off one by one by their evil doppelgangers.
ARTEFACTS feels very much like a short movie stretched out to barely make it a full-length feature. The production values are low, there is not much of an explanation given why things happen, which is particularly frustrating because the doppelgangers behave inconsistently. Consequently, there is not even a point in trying to guess what is going on. Finally, the concluding speech by the Doctor is just baffling in that it seems totally out of place, almost as if it was lifted from some unrelated romantic drama.
It is much easier to get away with lack of explanation in a short film, because the economy of time only permits audience to be drawn to other possible aspects, like the ambience, emotional appeal, aesthetics etc. Without getting disengaged or bored. A longer film can pull this off, but it is much harder, because the parts that make up for absence of sense have to be especially strong. This film has nothing to make up for the absence of the plot explanation, so basically we get a cat and mouse game without rhyme and reason.
The one aspect of this movie which stood out positively was the noise that doppelgangers make as they approach; it is genuinely unsettling, and, given how simple the sound effect is, I am surprised that I had not seen (heard) this in other movies.
Overall, this is not really a worthwhile film unless one is a evil doppelganger movie completist.
Some movies which make much better use of the concept:
1. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)
2. THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975)
2. THE BROKEN (2008)
