A terrifying creature invades a home, forcing one man to face himself, and causing terrible truths to be revealed and forced to come to light. For all intents and purposes, that is literally all I feel comfortable telling you about director Patrick Hogue’s SEW without spoiling anything. This short is a slow burn with characters being built up before they ever encounter the horrors in store for them.
SEW really plays on an emotional script. Something is tearing at our main character, which reveals itself with the help of our monster. And other than one expositional moment near the end, the short does a very good job of taking us on the journey with it rather than just telling us the story.
Now let’s talk about my favorite part of the whole short – the creature. Ultimately not the true villain in this piece, SEW‘s monster is creepy and wonderful. Played by Andrew Diego, the monster enters the home and wreaks his havoc. The design for the creature is simplistic, but it does exactly what it set out to – creep us the hell out. My favorite part about SEW’s monster, though, is how inhuman he is onscreen. The way that Diego moves adds a level to the creature that takes him from an actor in makeup to the otherworldly stuff of nightmares.
My biggest qualm with the film was the lighting design. Most of the story does take place at night, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be able to see a character’s face when he’s having an emotional moment. However, for the first project from this team, it is not the greatest sin a short can have.
Want to check out SEW for yourself? It can be found here until the end of January!
- [Movie Review] BEHIND YOU - April 14, 2020
- [Short Film Review] SEW - January 8, 2020
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