“Best Experimental”

★★★★

“If you have a chance to see this film, you won’t be disappointed!”

When the neighbourhood dogcatcher William Page, is found wandering the streets disoriented, he is taken to the local police station for assistance. However, the situation soon disintegrates into hell on earth.

What we need to cover first, is how director and lead Alan King managed to pull off this film. Filmed and performed entirely by himself (in his apartment kitchen) before Covid-19 encouraged more filmmakers to attempt similar methods of filmmaking. It’s a huge achievement how King manages to pull off such a captivating and dramatic piece with such limitations. However, this is also what makes it work on so many levels.

The film is shot incredibly well, and with a real understanding of camera work. The film noir colour grade and rough grain all adds to give the film more drama. The cuts between our lead character ‘William’ and various objects around the room tie in seamlessly to work with the powerful voiceovers.

What this film does so well is giving the audience the ability to fill in the blanks. Less in more, certainly helps to create a moody and dramatic tone to this film, which encourages the audience to listen in and watch closely.

King also delivers a superb performance, taking his time to draw the audience in and surprise them with where the story goes. His subtle and relaxed demean-or looks natural and believable, proving that simply being on-screen is sometime enough to tell a story.

With the lead not delivering any dialogue, it offers the opportunity for King to perform the voice of ‘Sarg’ along with Brett Cousins voicing ‘James’. Both show a genuine sense of familiarity and authenticity, which makes for the ending all the more shocking.

We loved this film with its simple yet effective storytelling. If you have a chance to see this film, you won’t be disappointed!

— APEX Film Awards