STALKER Short Film, Short Review: Fear and Survival in the City of Light
A young woman walks back home on a gloomy and threatening night in Paris. She can't shake the feeling that she's being followed. As she gets closer to her residence, the presence becomes increasingly bold and aggressive.
Now that David Cholewa’s short film, Stalker, is out into the wild and touring the festival circuit, the time came for us to have a look at it.
We are fans of the golden glow put to the city of Paris and how it countered the pitch black shadows on every corner. Whether that’s what it looks like all the time or was added during color correction, it gives the surroundings a warmth that counters the fear our victim feels. Aerial shots have to be at the right angle, somewhere close enough that you, the viewer, are at risk of getting caught up and dragged down into the story, just out of harm’s reach. In the moments in a parking garage, there is also some of that sickly coloring that Fincher made part of their repertoire.
The creature design is pure nightmare fuel - if you hate spiders. We knew this heading into the viewing, based on what we shared in our reporting leading up to the short film’s release, and it still gives us the ick. Some of the VFX lacks weight; the creature climbs and scales walls a little too easily for something of its size. Still, there is some good camerawork that creates a “first-creature” perspective as it crawls along the ceiling, aware of its surroundings as it has to climb over (or is it under?) things that hang from the ceiling of your average parking garage that balances that out.
What matters most of all is Sandra Hohenadel’s performance as the impending victim. It must feel authentic to instill fear in the viewer effectively. Already deemed an award-worthy performance on the festival circuit, the fear her character feels as she races home grows with each step they take.
Infected by the attack, the story turns metaphorical to show the lasting effects of acts of violence. While not terribly violent by any stretch of the imagination, the point here is not to exploit the topic of violence against women, but to show that the fear from any attack of any kind lives inside victims long after. Portrayed here with terrifying effect, it is a final shot that lingers long in the mind.
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