A young newspaper reporter Alonso is sent to investigate police reports of the disappearance of children down a mysterious hole that suddenly appeared in a warehouse. There he bumps into Ramon who describes himself as a "news reporter, journalist, and something else". Together they go to investigate this hole. They find warehouse employee Esteban is setting up lights around this mysterious hole. He confirms the reports and claims he has heard voices coming out from the hole.
Rather than wait for a fire department, that is not coming, Ramon volunteers Alonso to go down the hole and rescue the children. They tie a rope to his waist and strap on some headphones so Alonso can communicate with Ramon. As Alonso goes down the hole the mystery, pun intended or not, deepens. Then the lights go out!
Directed by Ricardo Farias and Christian Cueva Voces/Voices was a surprise addition to the Morbido Film Festival and screened in front of Adrien Garcia Bogliano's Scherzo Diabolico, out of competition. Ricardo and Christian did the excellent title sequence at the beginning of his film.
Voces is like a Morbido family project. Pablo Guisa Koestinger is an executive producer. Adrián García Bogliano produces and edits. Adrien's wife and producer of his films, Andrea Quiroz, also produces. Then Atroz director Lex Ortega does his sound design magik and makes the whole thing sound ominous and weird, which is what you really need when your short film is called Voces/Voices.
And that is what really, really works well here. Sound. Man is it so important that it works when Farias and Cueva pull the rug out from the audience in their film. It is such a great moment in the story, right at the end of the short. When I watched it again it still elicited a maniacal chuckle from me when the lights came back on.
The real fun is in what your imagination does during a short film like Voces. It is a 'not the destination it is the journey' kind of film. What is down the hole does not matter when compared to the anticipation that builds as Alonso is lowered down the hole. Then the lights go out and are followed with a surprising climax.
I can watch Voces over and over again and still get a kick out of it.