A Waste of Life
2024 · 8m
Directed by Tore Frandsen
Genres: dark comedy, thriller
Tones: darkly comic, tense
A thoroughly unlikable protagonist just wants a relaxing bath, but a slip in his hotel bathtub leaves him paralyzed at the bottom with the water rising. In this Hitchcockian thriller, Sebastian must use every resource to escape before time runs out.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise is almost *too* neat—trapped guy, rising water, ticking clock—but Frandsen seems to know he's working in borrowed Hitchcock language, which almost makes the thing interesting; almost.
A competent exercise in suspense mechanics with clear lineage to Fincher and the Safdie brothers, though it doesn't quite achieve the formal distinction or philosophical weight required to transcend its genre scaffolding.
The real coup here is the decision to make Sebastian genuinely contemptible rather than sympathetic—that tonal pivot, sustained across 8 minutes with an unlikable protagonist drowning literally and figuratively, is what transforms a high-concept trap into something that actually lingers.
Reviews
In this Hitchcockian thriller, Sebastian's life takes a chilling turn when a slip in his hotel bathtub renders him paralyzed at the bottom, and with the water encroaching, he must employ every resource to escape before time runs out.