best movie i've ever seen.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I have to say I am a big fan of Ryans You Tube channel "Film Riot" and I thought his film "Losses" was very well shot even though it lacked a good story line.However, I waited nearly 3 years for this film and I expected something amazing, but instead got something that was OK.I purchased the Blue Ray with the signed script (Which took for ever to come), just so I could see the behind the scenes and see how Ryan did his scripts. But even the Blue Ray was OK and nothing amazing and I was slightly disappointed.The acting was above average, but for a short film it was alright but not a 10 out of 10..... More of a 6 out of 10

Before I go into my review I want to say that I completely understand what the film is about. It's about a guy who in the heat of the moment kills his girlfriend by "accident" and as a result his conscience is making him lose his grip on reality. My problem with the movie has to do a lot with the opening scene. The film starts off in a very confusing manner. A couple is arguing, and it's the girl who's asking the guy what his frustration is about. So we understand that he's frustrated with their relationship, yet he won't say what exactly his frustration stems from. The girl is frustrated at the guy because he doesn't spend time with her, a point to which the guy has no real response to. At first I thought maybe he's cheating on her, but that can't be because he too is frustrated with their relationship. A cheater will usually try to keep cool and not raise any suspicions or try to sabotage one relationship because it could ruin the other. So the whole time I'm thinking, what is so secretive that he can't tell her? He can't be a professional assassin because it becomes very apparent he can't deal with the pressure of murdering someone. So what is so secretive that he can't tell her "I'm upset about this", like a real couple would do? What is so secretive that it leads to a massive argument that leads in someone's death. If arguing has been a reoccurring problem like it's suggested, why not break up at this point? The reason this is done in such an illogical fashion, is that if the argument is settled like adults, the movie has no lift off and thus the murder doesn't happen. The clunky delivery of the lines by the actors makes it very apparent that the actors themselves don't know what their characters are fighting about and neither did the writer. The actors don't know of any argument between a couple in which the problem is not put out there, and so they are having a hard time getting into it or understanding the material. And if it is put out there then the audience would not find it a plausible reason to kill her, for this reason it is left a mystery. To the writer this was just a small detail to push the story along and get to the "good stuff". To top it all off the director tries to cover his tracks and tries to bring some seriousness to this flawed scene by filming it in "this is how you know the scene is serious" shot (a.k.a. the close up shot) and also by doing the reality TV hand-held style to make it seem as if this argument is real. Come on Ryan have some guts, do something unexpected, film it on a flat extreme long shot or something I haven't seen. Starting a film with two characters we know nothing about arguing tells us nothing except that they are frustrated. Setting up the scene as something as simple as "I know you're cheating on me" would of sufficed, but this wouldn't lead to a murder it would lead to a break up. In fact, no normal couple argument would ever lead to a murder. The only way it can happen, is if you introduce the male character before the argument as a mentally unstable and frustrated with life character. Maybe he's taken a beating at work, maybe he has no friends, he was released from a mental institution not too far back, he wants to claim a life insurance after her death (a classic), etc. or a combination of multiple things. If the main character is someone who balls up his emotions, and has been building up this anger at his girlfriend or at life for this really long time then show us that. Show us the evolution from someone calm, into an unhappy boyfriend, and then a violently explosive person. This is what I mean by character depth, we know nothing else about these characters except that they are fighting. I have a feeling that this is what Ryan was going for but I shouldn't have to go from hypothetical to hypothetical to arrive at a plausible solution. If you wanted to make a psychological thriller about a man's guilty conscience a little easier, make it about the guy who hits a stranger while driving. Set up as a nice guy with bad luck. I'm sorry I just couldn't get over the issues of the first 5 minutes. On top of that all the actresses were bad in this film, and perhaps miscast because they all look like 20 year old models (except the officer), the lead actually looks the part of a psycho in his late 30s. In fact he is the best thing to happen to this film, his performance takes over the film after that clunky mess in the beginning and gives life to the film. The film lacked plot points though, it did well in representing the main character's internal conflict but I saw the officer coming in and being killed. The movie could of used more gore as well, kind of like Japanese films (I thought the girl's face should of been smashed in or something). Overall the movie was okay. A good score to go along and a good representation of a man losing his grip on reality. I felt some of the shots were conventional or expected for a thriller. The film needed normal shots, shots of before the murder occurs to get the full fear effects when he commits the murder.

I will keep "TELL" and film riot separate because when i watched it i wiped out the name of their youtube super hit show. First thing the story got me totally and by saying that i mean it was nicely interactive between the story and the audience. I found this 33 (waw) minutes short film very well paced(somewhere something very little was missing). In terms of camera angle and a little shakiness turned me down a bit but hey considering the budget and the crew that's the best one can get for sure. But, if i compare this film to other big budget short film, guess what, it will still make a big impression on them. One fact can do it all, "TELL"'s soundtrack was extremely catching and it kept me in tense most of the time. Last but not least a well graded film. I am no guru in terms of any of the issues i just talked about but i know what is comfortable and fun to watch and what is not. Good job Ryan connolly.

Great story line, with awesome moments of thrill and horror. Ryan is a great director and a very sweet guy! The actor did incredibly great on their part. The lighting effects used made the plot even more scary. All in all its a great short film and a must watch for wanna-be directors. The short film did a great work in telling how a guilty man could do horrible stuff just to cover up his wrong doings. Ryan did a fantastic job as a writer as well, the plot was direct, short and the moments of fear and guilt were timed properly. 33 minutes of fear and guilt, its a nice film and we hope that Ryan will soon make a feature length film. I am a huge fan of FilmRiot and Filmstate. FilmRiot helped me to grow as a photographer and provided me with all the technicalities involved in this field. Josh Connelly did a fantastic job with the behind-scenes of this short film. He's a great actor too. Losses was a great short film. Must watch short film!