Overseer – A Short Film Review
Overseer is a fun short but tries too hard to do too much and ultimately fails at what it intended to do.
My Opinion
Overseer is divided into two distinct parts. The first ten minutes is devoted almost entirely to comedy, while the final four minutes are where the short switches gears to the horror. The comedy worked really well, in parts it was fantastic, however the horror elements are what brought it down. While I thought Overseer was fun, it tried to do too much. There was not really any plot development in the horror elements of the film to give the final third any real meaning. It all just seemed a little disjointed and confusing.
As the owners of the house are leaving in opening credits an important part of this short occurs which may go unnoticed. It went unnoticed for me in my first viewing. Marisol, played by Jackie Garza, touches a book on a shelf before leaving. Not a lot of importance is drawn to this at the time and you don’t really get that much of a clear shot of the book but later the book is pivotal to the plot. I think this should have had a bit more or a big deal placed onto it considering it’s relevance. If something is important then the audience needs to know that.
As mentioned previously, the first ten minutes of this short is mainly comedy. This was fun to watch but there was no real plot development. We are treated to a single camera shot of Nick sitting watching TV, on the phone talking or eating pizza. While the camera doesn’t need to move for this it doesn’t make it particularly interesting visually. The camera doesn’t have any real movement and we don’t get any other angles. While it serves its purpose, focusing on someone sitting down does not really keep an audiences interest. There were certain moments, such as the bathroom scene, where I can understand space being a big factor in the camera position but in a decent sized lounge I think we could have been given a little variation and movement.
Thankfully we have Pedro Mendoza to keep us entertained. Without having anyone else to interact with for most of the short he manages to keep the audience entertained. Mendoza has a real charisma which can’t help but hold your attention. He is great fun to watch. My favourite scene in this short by a long way is when Mendoza orders a pizza. We are given an excellent soundtrack to accompany him dancing around with his pizza, maybe enjoying it a little too much! This was seriously funny and worth watching this short simply for these few moments.
There was a fun scene with the Pizza Guy and Nick when he comes to deliver the pizza. This is one of the only interactions Mendoza has with another character onscreen. The pair had great chemistry in their limited time together. It would have been good to see these two share a little more screen-time as I think this could have only help with this short.
The horror begins at the ten minute mark and if I am honest I felt as if this was bolted on to the end. It didn’t come across as scary and it actually felt a little awkward and confusing. I wasn’t sure what was going on. This sudden shift in gears really threw me out. I thought if this had been played out in a comical way leaning onto the comical talents of Mendoza it might have saved this but going down the more serious route really made this short suffer.
With a short film you are limited to the amount of screen-time available and every second counts towards telling your story. In this instance too much time was dedicated to the comedy of Mendoza. This meant that the story hadn’t been built up enough for the reveal to have the required impact. From there other ideas were brought in which only made the whole thing a little more confusing. I think this would have been better either sticking with the comedy or removing it altogether and going down a more serious, story-driven path. Trying to do both didn’t work for me.
Alberto Ornelas directed a script written by himself and Pedro Mendoza. I think the writing is what let this short down. I think the plot could have been developed better, maybe either focusing on horror or comedy rather than doing both. I don’t think the horror elements were developed enough which is why they didn’t really work too well for me. It is never easy to work within the confines of a short film with limited time.
Overall I felt like the colour palette was lacking. The whole short being set at night meant that it was very dark. Unfortunately we were not given much in terms of colour, this was about as exciting as it got. It would have been nice to see a little better use of lighting and colour to brighten the short and make it a little more pleasing to the eye.
A nice and very well chosen soundtrack complimented the short, perfectly capturing the scenes that it was placed into. As mentioned previously the ‘Pizza Dancing’ scene is a perfect example of that. The soundtrack worked very well and helped to set the scene.
Some of the sound cuts are a little rough, especially noticeable when the pizza guy is coming up to deliver the pizza. This is not helped by the strong winds that were taken place during the filming. As the music cuts out the static noise of the wind takes its place.
Notable Performances
Pedro Mendoza played Nick. I enjoyed the performance of Mendoza. He came across as likable and entertaining. He was fun to watch and showed a certain confidence on camera. His ‘Pizza Dance’ was a real highlight of this short and had me laughing. He seemed to have a natural ability for comedy and his screen presence commanded the attention of the audience.
Rene Leos played the Pizza Guy. Although his appearance was short, it was pretty memorable. From the moment he crashes into the bin as he arrives at the house, until he leaves, his presence is a welcome addition to the short. He has an excellent chemistry with Mendoza and it was a little bit of a shame that this was not explored further.
The Verdict
I found that the writing in this short is what let it down. Certain key aspects of the plot were not developed enough. It was entertaining to watch in places with some really fun moments but as a whole I thought that the horror elements didn’t have enough development to give them meaning which led to a unsatisfying ending. Trying to do too much has let this short down. I think it could have been improved a lot by focusing solely on the comedy.
