A Strange Place

An unflinching plunge into dark territory, feeling strangely, and painfully, relevant to unhealthy pastimes from our collective youth.

Walton and Deng manage to spectacularly craft uncomfortably beautiful compositions, conveying a sad inner distress easily recognized as a terribly incessant and subconscious longing to avoid sobriety at all costs - yet it's still frightening.

While these moments, captured through Deng's appropriately hazy cinematography, endure long enough to fundamentally represent a depressed view of life, they never culminate in a solution for Deng's character.

In short, it comes down to a matter of taste. The production of "a strange place" - its technical aspects, I mean - may say more about its narrative than its own narrative does. Whether that is a good or bad thing: it is up to you.

A colleague of mine sent me this short only hours ago.

Thanks to a nuanced and controlled performance from its cinematographer and sole star, Oscar Deng, "A Strange Place" hits the mark as a tense and uncomfortable thriller, demanding your attention with every shot.

The ambition of first-time director/writer Joshwa Walton shows through in a layered, yet minimalist, approach, which is a true showcase underscored by the clear collaboration of talent behind (and simultaneously, in front of) the camera.

Despite its limits and frustrations, it is a bewildering watch, full of wonderful, skillful style with substance to match it.

At only ten minutes in run-time, "A Strange Place" is a true leap forward for its first-time crew. For those who enjoy a different kind of cinema, this is not to be missed.