Charming and brutal

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the many ESMA school projects available to all viewers on the Web, Jungle Jail is one of the weakest ones. The team of four students (no idea what Stepaschka - mentioned by IMDb - stands for, as it is not in the actual credits) didn't include a talented writer, unfortunately.The story is not told in an engaging manner. It fails to create any connection or emotion; no empathy; not even laughs when it tries to be funny. There might be a twist at the end, but if any it lacks clarity and again fails at humour. And actually, besides the bad delivery, the plot is not solid enough to begin with: a convict is being bullied by everyone, yet when the opportunity arises he becomes the worst of them.The art is average, which isn't so surprising considering that the makers are beginners in their profession, but it doesn't help that the visuals aren't even remotely creative. I'm left with the feeling that these kids might be more suited for a technical career in video games.

"Jungle Jail" is an 8-minute cartoon written by, directed by and starring Stepaschka, whatever that means. He has not worked on another film apart from this one. Anyway, here we have a small, bald, middle-aged man who goes to jail for whatever reason. There he has trouble dealing with the other inmates, but a happy coincidence helps him in becoming not only accepted, but feared by the other inmates. He enjoys this state for sure and even has the previous badass prison inmate on a leash at some point. It's a story of "from zero to hero", but it's neither very credible nor dramatically relevant nor funny. So yeah, all in all a fairly disappointing short film and I can see why the man behind it has not pursued any further projects, at least not under this pseudonym. Not really much talent in here. Thumbs down.