“2088” – A Short Thriller/Sci-Fi Film

What’s it All About

It’s the year 2088, and a couple of friends are engaging in an online chat, discussing breaking news of the disappearance of a mutual acquaintance. A physics teacher they both know has been reported missing. Security camera footage at the missing individual’s apartment shows two unidentified men leading him away from his residence. The physics teacher had just been at one of the friend’s homes the previous night, behaving peculiarly. Acting paranoid, he gave the friend an empty notebook, and left in a hurry, telling him to “read it while drinking some hot lemon tea.” With that clue to go on, the friends make an amazing discovery, uncovering the likely reason for the teacher’s disappearance. But, it doesn’t end there. The friend’s chat about the disappearance and the ensuing discovery is cut short, all evidence of the conversation being erased.

My Opinion

This was a delightful short thriller, with a simple setting – the whole short was played out as a suspenseful conversation, utilizing an instant messaging app online. Being that much of our lives are lived out in cyberspace nowadays, and may perhaps be even more so in the future, I enjoyed the fact that the film was played out in the digital space. Everything that needed to be relayed to the viewer was done from a computer screen. This kept the attention away from special effects and expensive scenery, and more on the suspense and the viewer’s imagination of what was going to happen next.

Being that the missing person was a physics teacher, it logically followed that the discovery that was the cause of his immediate removal and disappearance was related to physics.

The Verdict

It would be difficult to graphically demonstrate 67 years into the future. Many of the innovations that far into the future are likely not even conceived of yet, let alone easily portrayed. This made the concept of keeping things simple by allowing everything to be played out on a computer screen more plausible. It was a unique way to create an inexpensive, yet plot-driven focused movie experience. The exciting physics discovery also made is certainly worth the watch.

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J. P. Gordon

Independent film enthusiast, frequent Sundance attendee, writer, avid lover of cats and mint chocolate chip ice cream.