Day of the People (Short, 2016)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Conor Lowson, Dennis Hewitt
Directed by Philip Stainsby
The simple act of a lone man walking in a desolate city underneath a blazoned sky can be visually magnificent if shot in the right frame and format, and Philip Stainsby’s experimental short film Day of the People is not only insanely beautiful to look at, but immanently ominous as an overall display.
A solitary man (Lowson) wanders the city streets where there isn’t a single soul to be found, and above him is a fiery reddish/orange sky, eerily reminiscent of what blanketed the heavens in Night of the Comet. The only sense of normalcy that can be found is an empty soda can and the faint sounds of far-off music.
For only a 10-minute short, it feels like our lead actor is walking forever in search of anyone… and that someone is eventually located, but not before delivering a somber message.
Stainsby’s vision is one of isolation among a prodigious metropolitan backdrop, and at the risk of tooting someone’s horn a bit prematurely, if you look closely, there is a slight John Carpenter-esque feel to the latter moments of this quickie. Overall, I truly enjoyed it and sincerely hope that Stainsby keeps on the right track with his productive perception – this one seriously needs to be stretched out to a feature film. RECOMMENDED.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
