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Film: The Becky Carmichael Fan Club
Year: 2018
Director: Andrew J.D. Robinson
Writer: Andrew J.D. Robinson
Starring: Gabrielle Banville, Tristan McIntosh and Maissa Houri-Charron
Review:
I had the pleasure of checking out this horror short film when writer and director Andrew J.D. Robinson reached out asking if I wanted to give it a viewing. The synopsis for this short is when a young woman picks up her brother from the airport, her world that is already depressing gets turned upside even more.
Becky Carmichael (Gabrielle Banville) does as the synopsis states. She picks up Jesse (Tristan McIntosh) from the airport. We learn that their parents have passed away and that he went off to rehab. The film actually is quite interesting here, because it is in black and white. This is a great stylistic choice in that we learn Becky is a singer and the world is grey because something happened to her and she can’t carry a tune. I found this to be great that we are seeing a reflection of Becky and how she is feeling. While walking home, she does seem to finally figure out what she had been missing and the world gains color. I like that as she happy and again, it reflects in what we see.
Going from this, Becky is getting a lot of friend requests on social media from people she doesn’t know. This bothers her and she is doesn’t know why it is happening out of no where. This leads to a creepy scene where a man follows her and tries to act out a rape/murder fantasy with her. He thinks she is into this and freaks out when he realizes she’s not. It turns out that Becky’s image is being used to catfish people and they are thinking it is really her. This also leads to something quite interesting. We have the aspect of cyber bulling and identity theft. This is something that is a very real problem.
Becky seeks out help from a support group. This leads to some shocking revelations that will rock her world. I do feel that this is paced well in each of these major reveals. I also really liked that this is based off another horror short I had watched previously from Robinson. It doesn’t completely fit in the grand scheme of this short, but by the end it makes sense why it is there. I liked the climax of the film and how it ends as well. I actually also feel there is more to this story that could be continued to be fleshed out.
The acting I thought was hit or miss for me. I thought Banville was good. I felt the emotion from her in the car wash scene. I also felt horrible for her in everything that she goes through with the online issues. She did a fine job in this film for sure. McIntosh I wasn’t as a big a fan of. I just thought his performance was a little bit flat. Maissa Houri-Charron was also in this film as Amber. She didn’t have a big role, but I thought what she did was fine as well.
As for effects in this film, there aren’t really a lot to touch on. This film is more psychological and character driven. The scene that had blood in it looked good and was done practically. I did really like how the film was shot. I thought it looked really good. I also was a big fan of the use of color and black-and-white as well.
The soundtrack of the film I thought was fitting for the tone of the film. The songs that were selected definitely convey what they needed them to do.
Now with that said, I thought this was a short that had some interesting aspects to it. The story is very relevant today and quite scary. Things you put on the internet can be used for things they weren’t intended. Plus there is the aspect of living our lives through celebrities as well. The acting of the film I thought was hit or miss for me. I do have to shout out Banville, as she did a solid job. The pacing of the film I thought was good as was how the film looked and its use of colors. The soundtrack was fitting. I would recommend seeing this film as I found it to be above average.
You can actually check this film out from the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-FKqPI90kw
My Rating: 7 out of 10