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Film: Francis Makes a Friend
Year: 2019
Director: Jake Braden and Logan Wood
Writer: Jake Braden and Logan Wood
Starring: Tristan Szucs, Jake Braden and Mason Sheaves
Review:
This was a short film that writer/director/star of the film, Jake Braden, reached out and asked if I would be willing to review as starts to make its festival rounds. I always like to check out independent works so I confirmed that I definitely would love to give it a viewing and write up a review. The synopsis is a socially awkward guy goes to a dinner party with a friend, where things get pretty weird.
We kick this off with Francis (Tristan Szucs) as he sits in his car. He is talking to his mother, letting her know where he is. He gets out of the car when his friend, Alex (Braden) walks up. Francis removes a container of spaghetti and meatballs for the potluck.
The house belongs to Ryan (Mason Sheaves). Already at the party is Summer (Jennifer Desaulniers) and Omar (Abdulla Damen). Francis is offered a beer, but he states he isn’t really a fan of it. Instead he is given a cup of a blue drink. Everyone at the party is a little bit off. Omar is making a mess and Ryan immediately cleans it up. He finishes right when his girlfriend returns. Her name is Anne (Klaudia Landicho) and she is a bit uptight.
Everyone sits down to dinner and Francis starts to see things. Or he thinks that he is seeing things. Dinner ends when Omar is making a mess and everyone pushes to see a new puppet performance that Ryan and Summer have been working on. Things take quite the turn during this and the games that are played afterwards. The thing is, Francis is a bit freaked out and is keeping it to himself, but are the things he sees really happening?
I have to say that this is definitely an odd short film, but I ended up really enjoying it. Everything in the beginning is really awkward, but as it goes on, I really started to think that we are seeing everything from Francis’ point of view. It is something that I really could connect with in that going to a dinner party like this where you don’t know anyone and the rest of them do. You feel like an outsider and being socially awkward would make it even worse.
This film does an excellent job at giving us a surreal feel of things. When the puppet show started, I was really wondering what I had got myself into. I ended up really enjoying it and it might be my favorite part. I got such a weird feeling from watching it. The subject matter is really dark and what happens at the end of it is unnerving. It would have been much worse to see real people doing what they did, but there is such an eerie feeling that puppets are portraying it.
Things get even more twisted during the game portion of the evening. By then, Francis who doesn’t drink isn’t feeling well and when he takes a shot of something, the world becomes blurry. Now I’ve experienced this before on a night of heavy drinking, so it is realistic. I’ve never hallucinated and it almost makes me think something he drank was spiked. It definitely would make sense.
The film is paced very well. The feeling of awkwardness turned into a feeling of dread within me as things throughout the evening become darker and darker. I think it moves pretty quickly through everything and to be honest, it might even move a bit fast. I would be willing to see an extended version where things could be developed even more as this has the potential there for sure. I like how it ended and there are a couple of interpretations to what happens next.
Next would be on to the acting. I do think that overall, it was a little bit stiff at first. By the end of it, I’m starting to think that it comes off that way because this is from the point of view of Francis. Speaking of him, I think that Szucs was pretty solid. He comes off as awkward and not really fitting in, even though everyone is being nice. He descends into a sort of madness as things happen around him and he drinks more. Braden was solid in his role. I have to give props to Sheaves and Desaulniers for their puppet performance. It was so odd and surreal feeling to watch. They did really good there. Damen was fine as was Landicho. The other smaller roles in this rounded out for what was needed as well.
There are not a lot of effects in this film, but there are a few that stood out to me. First would be the changing of the food at dinner. It is jarring and it’s supposed to be, but it was well done. The puppet show was also good. There is a scene where someone cuts their hand. That was practical, but it didn’t look great. It is quick so it doesn’t really hurt anything. There are also some computer effects during the climax. It also doesn’t look great, but with what is happening, it fit for me. It was also quite creepy. I do think that the film was shot well also.
Finally we come to the soundtrack of the film. It doesn’t really stand out for the most part, but it was fitting for the scenes. I yet again have to go back to the puppet show. The song they sing there was great. The content is so adult, but it was catchy. The other was during the climax. That really aided with the surreal feel of it that they were going for.
Now with that said, I really enjoyed this short film. I’m glad that Braden reached out to me to check it out. The film really has a basic premise, but being a short that is fine. I really like the concept, because it is a situation I’ve been in. I would even say that if they wanted to extend this out, I have some questions as to what is going on. I like that this film left me feeling that way. I do have to say the acting was a bit stiff, but it does seem to be a stylistic choice. The editing, soundtrack and the effects really contributed to the surreal feel of the film. I found this to be a good short for sure and would recommend giving it a viewing if you get the opportunity.
My Rating: 8 out of 10