HAPPY BIRTHDAY DURI: Watch Matt Halsall's Engrossing Short Now

Writer-director Matt Halsall has appeared in these pages before, the Korean based director having turned out a number of striking short films in the past. And while Halsall's focus in recent days has been on developing a slate of feature projects he nonetheless recently found the time to gather together a small group of actors and shoot his latest short film - Happy Birthday Duri - over the course of a weekend.

True to form for Halsall, the film is not just beautifully shot and performed but also takes genre elements and then spins them in suprising directions. At the center is a middle aged man simply trying to connect with his estranged daughter on her birthday while struggling through the interruptions broguth on by his work. That work? He's a police detective on a night shift where his squad may have stumbled across a serial killer. It's compelling stuff and available online in its entirety now. Take a look below.