I appreciate what writer-director Alex Proyas was going for with 'Phobos,' and the effort undertaken without the apparent involvement of anyone else. It's an interesting concept, even if not particularly arresting.
There's a great deal going on here. Most immediately we have to first recognize the skill of star Bonnie Ferguson. As there is specifically no crew credited here, I assume that means Ferguson assembled her own sartorial arrangement and did her own makeup, and even in black and white, she looks fantastic. More substantially, we so clearly read on her face the expression of fear, uncertainty, and anxiety as the protagonist takes the long way home, alone. We readily recognize ourselves in her, especially if we've ever had to make a similar trek. I immediately get the sense that Ferguson is someone to watch out for, and I look forward to seeing more of her films.
As the protagonist loses her car, then begins heading home by other means, there are a minimum of visual effects that raise the tension of her experience: a couple glitches in the picture; single-frame apparitions of skulls over nearby persons, whether in her field of vision or not; a vague, shadowy figure on the periphery of the scene. Do these flashes of portent signal some force actively stalking the protagonist? Are they simply manifestations of her highly alert imagination, seeing danger all around her? Or are they simply visuals overlaid on the film to emphasize to viewers the protagonist's emotional state, and the mindset that fear puts us in?
If nothing else, that last bit is the true crux of the short, for 'Phobos' is - in clear intent and in final realization - an examination of fear. The journey of Ferguson's character allows us to visualize an example of fear manifesting in real life. Meanwhile, in the first few minutes of the short, this small, simple tale is also interwoven with shots of the moon of Mars, named Phobos, during which interstitials we're treated to a voiceover discussing fear, as we know it. While the cutaways to the celestial object end quickly, the narration - heavily manipulated and altered with voice software - continues over top of the protagonist's trek for the remainder of the film. It defines fear, and elucidates the word's etymology, before proceeding to discuss fear as a physiological response; its place in human lives and culture; philosophy; and fear as it relates to those things that fill our lives on a daily basis.
This is not at all what I was expecting when I sat to watch 'Phobos.'
As the narration ends, the film concludes without any real sense of resolution or denouement - just the continued steps of the protagonist, with one final visual effect to again denote the all-encompassing, universal experience of Fear.
This is interesting. 'Phobos' is an exercise in film-making the likes of which I'm familiar with as a concept, but which I don't think I've really actually seen before. Short films with little to no narrative, open to interpretation, are one thing; short films that set out to examine, in the most ostentatiously artistic way possible, a specific aspect of the human condition, with or without narration? That's bold. Pretentious, perhaps, but bold. A gold star to Alex Proyas for the effort, for the concept, and for seeing it through; a gold star, too, for Bonnie Ferguson for her stark honesty as our wayward protagonist.
But: is 'Phobos' worth watching? For a general audience, the average viewer - no. There's not truly a narrative, no grabbing "punch" or story beat; the highfalutin concept and format here is off-putting. This is a short for folks who are open to watching anything, and giving it earnest consideration, whether it's "up their alley" or not. This is a short with very limited, specialized appeal.
I don't know that 'Phobos' is quite my thing, but the more I watched it, the more I liked it. There's little here to truly keep us absorbed, but the sheer audacity of making a niche feature like this is worth a great deal in and of itself.
You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.
There's a great deal going on here. Most immediately we have to first recognize the skill of star Bonnie Ferguson. As there is specifically no crew credited here, I assume that means Ferguson assembled her own sartorial arrangement and did her own makeup, and even in black and white, she looks fantastic. More substantially, we so clearly read on her face the expression of fear, uncertainty, and anxiety as the protagonist takes the long way home, alone. We readily recognize ourselves in her, especially if we've ever had to make a similar trek. I immediately get the sense that Ferguson is someone to watch out for, and I look forward to seeing more of her films.
As the protagonist loses her car, then begins heading home by other means, there are a minimum of visual effects that raise the tension of her experience: a couple glitches in the picture; single-frame apparitions of skulls over nearby persons, whether in her field of vision or not; a vague, shadowy figure on the periphery of the scene. Do these flashes of portent signal some force actively stalking the protagonist? Are they simply manifestations of her highly alert imagination, seeing danger all around her? Or are they simply visuals overlaid on the film to emphasize to viewers the protagonist's emotional state, and the mindset that fear puts us in?
If nothing else, that last bit is the true crux of the short, for 'Phobos' is - in clear intent and in final realization - an examination of fear. The journey of Ferguson's character allows us to visualize an example of fear manifesting in real life. Meanwhile, in the first few minutes of the short, this small, simple tale is also interwoven with shots of the moon of Mars, named Phobos, during which interstitials we're treated to a voiceover discussing fear, as we know it. While the cutaways to the celestial object end quickly, the narration - heavily manipulated and altered with voice software - continues over top of the protagonist's trek for the remainder of the film. It defines fear, and elucidates the word's etymology, before proceeding to discuss fear as a physiological response; its place in human lives and culture; philosophy; and fear as it relates to those things that fill our lives on a daily basis.
This is not at all what I was expecting when I sat to watch 'Phobos.'
As the narration ends, the film concludes without any real sense of resolution or denouement - just the continued steps of the protagonist, with one final visual effect to again denote the all-encompassing, universal experience of Fear.
This is interesting. 'Phobos' is an exercise in film-making the likes of which I'm familiar with as a concept, but which I don't think I've really actually seen before. Short films with little to no narrative, open to interpretation, are one thing; short films that set out to examine, in the most ostentatiously artistic way possible, a specific aspect of the human condition, with or without narration? That's bold. Pretentious, perhaps, but bold. A gold star to Alex Proyas for the effort, for the concept, and for seeing it through; a gold star, too, for Bonnie Ferguson for her stark honesty as our wayward protagonist.
But: is 'Phobos' worth watching? For a general audience, the average viewer - no. There's not truly a narrative, no grabbing "punch" or story beat; the highfalutin concept and format here is off-putting. This is a short for folks who are open to watching anything, and giving it earnest consideration, whether it's "up their alley" or not. This is a short with very limited, specialized appeal.
I don't know that 'Phobos' is quite my thing, but the more I watched it, the more I liked it. There's little here to truly keep us absorbed, but the sheer audacity of making a niche feature like this is worth a great deal in and of itself.
You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.
