Tags:
Film: Christmas Blessing
Year: 2023
Director: Jakendreck Hart
Writers: Jakendreck Hart
Starring: LaTashia Dawson, LaTisha Rhodes and Michelle Luna
Review:
This was a short film that my friend and co-host on Side Quest Podcast made. He let me know that he was making this for the Christmas season and since I love to support independent cinema, I checked it out to do this review.
Synopsis: when a woman has issues with Christmas, she seeks out a hypnotherapist to help. She gets much more than she bargained for.
We start this off with someone decorating for Christmas while we get voice-over narration that the life expectancy of an individual is coming to an end. There are then flashes of someone attacked and put into a shower.
The short then shifts to Sophia (LaTisha Rhodes) in her car. She is trying to psyche herself up. She looks in her rearview mirror to see a variation of her. The glasses she is wearing are up and there is circus music playing. I get the idea that this is her dark passenger, wanting to do bad things.
Sophia then goes to visit Theresa (LaTashia Dawson). This is the therapist from the synopsis. She wants to help Sophia get over her fear of Christmas. First, she will need to find out why to help. This proves to be disastrous though as things aren't as they seem.
That is where I'm going to leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I love the fact that Jake wears his inspirations on his sleeves. I'm almost positive this has references to Christmas Evil, Dexter and Child's Play and/or Sugar Hill. Seeing these different things and correlating them made me smile so I wanted to give credit there.
I won't be able to explain why I think these other works are referenced since they would go into spoilers. What I will say though is that Christmas Evil seems to explain Sophia's backstory as to why she is terrified of Christmas. What is interesting there is that it is the exact opposite of the lead in that movie. Dexter came to mind for the darker version of Sophia, which stems from that trauma. That other personality wants to hurt people. The last reference is closer to Child's Play with something that happens and words spoken. Even though parts of this short are taken from these other things, I like how they're assembled in telling the tale here.
I'll then take this to the acting. This is working with a low budget, but it is taken seriously. I liked the dual personalities that Dawson has. The normal Theresa is meek and nervous while the darker one has more confidence. Rhodes was also good. She seems like someone who wants to help but could be harboring more underneath. Michelle Luna is good in her limited role. Jake Hart does voice-over as a doctor as well as making an appearance during the flashback. Everyone I thought worked in the role that they were needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought this was well-made. I'll bring back up that we're working with a smaller budget so there are limited sets. That's not an issue. The cinematography is great. I love how Jake frames his shots. This has limited effects and what is good there is that things are hidden if they can't be made to look real. That is something I'll credit as well. Other than that, I like what they did with the sound design to help fill in the backstory. The soundtrack also fit.
In conclusion, this is a solid horror short that is Christmas themed. Something I haven't brought up is how I grade shorts and for this one, I think it tells a complete story. There is that possibility though to continue to flesh this out if they want to. That's not necessarily needed though. The acting brings the characters to life. This is well-made. The cinematography and the framing leading the way there. I also love the homages to movies of the past while doing its own things with them. I'd recommend giving this one a watch. I'll provide the link below.
My Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Watch Here: Christmas Blessing