Plot
Ranger Megan Patel loses her brother, Daniel, under mysterious circumstances. Struggling to understand how he died, she finds herself alone, venturing into the vast pine forest. However, as she follows the trail of her brother into the woods, the trees begin to change and shift around her. Soon Megan arrives in places without any recollection of how she got there. Almost as if something is pulling her deeper into the woods. Something dark and dangerous, that Megan might not be able to escape.
Cast
Not applicable and made by a first time creator
Verdict
A multi-award winning short I can confidently say I'm not keen on the animation style here and likely never will be, it's like traditional stop motion but with cgi and it just doesn't work for me.
Seeing this ranger navigate her way through the forest seeking her late brother should be enthralling yet in reality it comes across very dull, nothing truly happens until the end and when it does it's so bog standard and cliched I was unimpressed.
I often see generic unimpressive short films getting awards and have to assume that the field is so thin it's not hard to win if you know how to get your foot in the door/the right people. There are great animated shorts out there, there are great horror shorts out there, this is deserving of nothing.
Rants
I'm notorious for not liking "Arthouse" and alas of all the mediums, short films seems to have the most. Films that come across pretentious, that present themselves as intelligent but panda to the pseudo-intellectuals and films that have a certain style that reeks of arrogance and entitlement.
The Good
The Bad
- Horrid animation
- Arthouse
- I just didn't "Get" it.
