A Disappointing Continuation

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Graham is a nervous middle-aged man living with his domineering mother. Both of them love God, although they do so in very different ways, with his mother being very much the "fire and brimstone" approach, while Graham longs to be, ahem, "touched by the spirit", so to speak.The big names on the cast list may catch your eye, but they will not really catch your ear since their actual contributions are limited to a few lines each at most; I guess this is why they agreed to do this student film. The plot is unusual to say the least and it does deserve credit for being different and imaginative; unfortunately for me it did not work, and almost none of it entertained or made me laugh. I think the problem for this is down to personal taste because the overwhelming feel I got from the film was not one of wit or imagination, but more of grubby crudity. In terms of the content it does offer some nicely odd touches (the Sir Ian McKellen voiced Jackdaw for one) but mostly it seems seedy and dirty; I guess that this was the point but it is almost too successful since the feeling is throughout the film. The humor matches this and is shown by the punchline, which I found to be lacking in impact other than to make me wince due to the idea and the visuals at that moment. Generally the humor is this way across the short film, with a rather seedy sense of sexual comedy but without any bigger laughs.The animation is a mix for me. On one hand it is technically very well made, with the static models not restricting the camera, so we do open moving down streets, through rooms etc, and this continues through the film. Unfortunately it is also rather crude in its style – so the models are rather grubby looking – not basic, just a bit ugly in their design. I again understand this was the point, and I did appreciate how well created the living environment was – it is the fusty old house of a small woman living brutally to her beliefs, and it convinced as such, however this is not to say that it therefore doesn't give the film this feel of being a bit ugly too.Personal preference I guess, but for me it was too crude – and not in a broad, slap-stick, dumb way which might have worked, but it is crude in a way that feels dirty, sweaty and a bit grubby.