In an office full of underemployed people more or less kicking their heels, news of redundancies bring the reality of easy street coming to an end. With one of the group already gone in a fit of rage and boxed possessions, the remaining colleagues nervously wait to see who, if anyone, will be next, and who, if anyone, will survive to surf the internet on work time for a second day.
There is a very nice balanced act in this short film and it involves blending together various tones and styles in a way that doesn't break the consistency of the film, allows each to occur, but to occur in a way that compliments one another. In the first instance we have a workplace with a slight comedic exaggeration to make nuances a bit broader and more accessible; this works because it is also written with a sense of reality in terms of how much (or little) work gets done, how people wind each other up, and how people with no shared interest or relationship just happen to have to spend their days together. The redundancy part works well with this sense of reality because although comedic, there is a nice sense of people feeling sorry for the departing colleagues, but also relieved that it was not them.
This also gives us the title, which is framed as a sort of "picked off one at a time" horror in a way. This aspect is not overdone but nicely connects to the natural fear of being next is such situations; I wasn't sure of the extension of this to the idea of workplace shooting, but this was only hinted – mainly I just liked that shot from behind of characters looking out the window, combined with some corny but in a good way edits and effects. The performances are mostly natural and engaging. Meyer is a pain – although I think this is the point; Good is a bit stiff but a good sport, while Collins is also solid. Rugnetta is nicely awkward while Kander plays the office crush well.
If I had one main complaint (and of course I do) it would be that I found the conclusion to be too filled with optimism and, in my view, naivety. I would have liked a tad more cynicism to have stayed with the film till the end, but it is a nice ending in its own way and I guess for some this will work – I think I'm just bitter! Anyway, it is not perfect but this light but honest film manages to balance a mix of comedy, realism, and spoof horror-tropes very well, producing a roundly enjoyable and entertaining little short.
