9-7-25 — GenreBlast Film Festival reviews (Part 2)

I’m not even going to yap. There’s too much goodness to get to!

STILL

Written and directed by: Rakefet Abergel

Country: US          Run time: 12 minutes

Themes: Pregnancy, mental health, family/community, PPD

Content Warnings: miscarriage

Synopsis: Aliya is dealing with her personal tragedy the best that she mentally can. Unfortunately, the guilt is coming from inside forces as well as outside.

Favorite line(s): “You can’t keep running away when things get hard.”

Thoughts: I can’t lie, this one hurt. And it hurt bad. Abergel forces the viewer to be in an uncomfortable space as she takes up space with her vision. While tackling absolute bullshit that is told to mothers after their losses, “You can try again”, “Be grateful it happened early”, or “You’ll get over it in time” (personal aside: don’t say this shit to women suffering from this trauma. There’s a special place in hell for you), she also deals with the mental health surrounding the issue. Thank you, Abergel, for not only sharing your vision but your personal demons with us as well.

BART & BOBBI KILL EACH OTHER

Directed by: Aaron Barrocas

Country: US          Run time: 6 minutes

Themes: rental insecurity, repressed anger

Content Warnings: death, political barbs

Synopsis: Bart and Barbie realized that living in a rent controlled apartment together may be coming to an end. … by any means necessary.

Favorite line(s): “You are going to mess up my rating with your smell… and your face.”

Thoughts: I could not stop laughing at this. Visually it’s stunning, acting was impeccable. But the real stand out was the chemistry between the characters. The actors that play these characters actually feel as if they can’t stand each other. Like they have just been waiting to tear into each other and their chance is through this short film. And that just makes it so much better. It’s cathartic in that sometimes you just want to throw someone’s politics and flaws right in their face. But, trust me, let Barbie and Bart handle it. They have it all taken care of.

THE REWIND

Directed by: Mikel J. Wilder and Diana Porter

Country: US          Run time: 11 minutes

Themes: Technology, power dynamics, trust, crime vs punishment

Content Warnings: financial abuse, lack of emotional regulation

Synopsis: Josh told his wife about the mismanagement of the family funds and he wishes he could have handled it differently. What if he could find where he went wrong and try to make amends?

Favorite line(s): “It’s not about finding the perfect thing to say. It’s about listening.”

Thoughts: Wow. There are so many different social commentaries in this short film and I couldn’t get enough. I tried to put myself in Josh’s place but as the viewer learns more about Josh, we have to then wonder - if he doesn’t deserve to learn, would we? Not only that but to listen to those trying to help us. To take that moment to self-reflect while agreeing, internally, to see through for change. And the bamboozle. Holy Toledo.

SEWING MACHINE

Directed by: Tyler Hagen

Country: US          Run time: 5 minutes

Themes: Mean girl mentality

Content Warnings: fat-shaming, self-mutilation

Synopsis: Our main character has the perfect sewing set up but someone thinks she is missing something, so they gift it to her.

Favorite line(s): “You hate it! You knew it wasn’t going to fit.”

Thoughts: This one was a bit different as it felt more about set design and special effects, but that’s not a bad thing. They were both stellar. Especially the makeup and the visuals. Some of them will haunt me for a very long time. My theory (and I’m usually wrong but here I go) is the hurt is transferable. Karma comes back around and it wants its pound of flesh.

SKEETER

Directed by: Chris McInroy

Country: US          Run time: 4 minutes

Themes: Friends, the lack of honesty

Content Warnings: death, blood

Synopsis: Three friends meet for a small get together but then realize that the host invited Skeeter and there will be blood.

Favorite line(s): “Thanks again for coming to my hole digging party.” “I think your bug spray is expired.”

Thoughts: I can’t lie, I laughed so gotdamn hard at some of the lines in this short film. Just the absolute insanity of the entire situation. I want to do a comparison but I can’t because it may ruin it. But know, you have never met a Skeeter like this one. The makeup and special effects are stellar in this one as well.

METHUSELAH

Directed by: Nathan Sellers

Country: US          Run time: 4 minutes

Themes: Unspoken history, avoidance

Content Warnings: flashing images, photos of lynching, images of hatred

Synopsis: Written and used almost as a spoken word form of media, the director/writer forces the viewer to come to terms with history that is often left unspoken.

Favorite line(s): “The age old Leviathans stand as silent witnesses to our darkness…” “… trunks have been repurposed into instruments of torture.”

Thoughts: METHUSELAH is not an easy watch. Honestly, it’s the one I had to end my film watch on for that day. What Sellers does with the transitions with the images of trees to reinforce the words the viewer hears - absolutely brilliant (and heartbreaking). The most powerful realization is how trees are more than living reminders of fun: tire swings in the summer, climbing them with friends as kids, or simply - innocence. Then the historical and less common thought of by many: how at times, the roots have been watered with the blood of lynchings.

I also want to take a moment to speak on the absolute rabid desire to learn more about names, places, and history that are unknown by the viewer. I personally went in search and a few hours later, my page of notes was filled with so much new information.

RABBIT

Directed by: Victor Mellors

Country: US          Run time: 2 minutes

Themes: Family, secrets

Content Warnings: animal death

Synopsis: With no spoken words, the viewer is subjected to a barrage of increasing more uncomfortable images of a woman and a boy.

Favorite line(s): No dialogue

Thoughts: RABBIT… I had to sit with this one for a little while. It’s like an onion with all the layers but also like those 3D images that the more the viewer looks closer, the more that is revealed. I have a whoooole bunch of theories but I don’t think that’s the point of this film. I believe it’s about the being in the moment, that uncomfortably inability to figure out the film is the point. And you know what, objective achieved, my friend.

MEAT CRAYON

Directed by: Richard Rotter

Country: Canada          Run time: 6 minutes

Themes: Parental abuse, creativity

Content Warnings: Graphic deaths

Synopsis: Kimberly is an artist and she has a crayon passer helper. When she doesn’t have an orange, her assistant makes sure she has one.

Favorite line(s): “Daddy’s not coming home.”

Thoughts: Well, well, well. I thought I hated the sound of wet pasta being mixed… I was sadly wrong, it gets worse. And that’s what is so interesting about this film. The viewer is listening to the sounds and possibly missing what is actually happening on screen. Kimberly was allowed to go to the park by herself and her mom has the audacity to be upset when she brings something new into the home. Well, mom, the lesson will be learned. Seriously though, that noise. *twitches in remembering

IN OLD RANCHOS

Directed by: Matthew Lucas

Country: US          Run time: 16 minutes

Themes: memories, mistakes, lies we tell ourselves

Content Warnings: death

Synopsis: The sheriff is told by an old woman that there is a dead body in the barn up the hill. She’s right… and wrong.

Favorite line(s): “Memory is a funny thing. Vivid. Unmistakable, yet wholly fabricated.

Thoughts: What a mind fuck! First, I HAVE to talk about the cinematography and setting. Holy shit, I couldn’t stop staring at it. But what a stellar juxtaposition to the rest of the story. I can’t talk too much about it without spoiling it but the foil women and the foil men is just full on brilliance. After watching it, I started questioning my own damn memories.

OLGA’S EYES

Directed by: Sarah Carlot Jaber

Country: Belgium          Run time: 22 minutes

Themes: Finding joy in old age, kindness

Content Warnings: elderly healthcare, off camera attempted sexual assault

Synopsis: Olga’s daughter needs to put her in an elderly care facility in order to get the heat off of them. But some habits are harder to break than others.

Favorite line(s): “We’ve eaten the entire neighborhood. You can’t stay here.”

Thoughts: I’ll tell you, I thought this short was going to go one way but it slapped me across the face for being a silly goose. The viewer finds that there is more than meets the eye and that sometimes being suspicious is a good thing. It also raises questions about end of life care. Especially between a husband and wife. That part hurt my heart. But with the sad, it also shows how easy it is to bring someone joy, even in small gestures. I loved me some Olga for sure.