This 'proof of concept' short film/pilot is a bit of a mess.
First up, the dialogue is bad, and the pacing is inconsistent. The music choices and editing adds no subtlety or tension as it is too bombastic, calling attention to itself. The acting varies between formulaic and atrocious. There are some interesting shots, peppered amongst the majority of generic ones. The story is not that gripping, and the lead role has been miscast, with an actor whose varying accent is his most interesting characteristic.
This is a film based on books by, and co-written by a YouTuber of some renown, Will Jordan, a.k.a. The Critical Drinker, so I was surprised and disappointed at the cliche level of dialogue and plot, given his reviews of movies, and his series of videos "the Drinker fixes". Although a lot of the responsibility for these things must also lie with the Director/Co-writer/Editor Travis Grant, as those three roles also play a pivotal part of how a film is made. While some of the fight scenes are okay, most of the pacing is slow, and the blocking/staging boring. More tension could have been added by giving characters things to do, putting them in motion as they speak the exposition necessary to set up the world this story takes place. Things like have the character who is supposed to speak Russian/Estonian actually speak Russian or Estonian to the guards, and not badly accented English. But mainly establish the main character earlier, as well as make him the one the audience wants to watch.
This 40 minute film had a budget of over $300,000, and many clever, inventive, independent feature films have been made for this level of money or less like Clerks, Open Water, Once, Pi, She's Gotta Have It, The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and one of my favourites - El Mariachi, which had action and gun play.
I found this effort disappointing, and a missed opportunity with a budget not well spent.
