Biopunk
2017 · 6m · UK
Directed by Liam Garvo
In 2054 London, three decades after a viral plague reshaped half the world's population, a young woman named Resha recounts the day her virus-free younger brother Kio was abducted by mysterious forces hunting the uninfected.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
It's a proof-of-concept that plays it frustratingly straight—all baroque set dressing and recognizable faces doing dystopian heavy lifting, but the premise (plague divides humanity into infected/uninfected castes) is half-baked enough that it feels like it's treading water until the feature justifies itself.
Garvo constructs a fully legible world with serious production design and formal restraint; the choice to anchor the narrative in testimony rather than action situates this in a lineage of speculative realism that values atmospheric worldbuilding over plot spectacle, and Nairn's presence grounds the mythos with real textual weight.
The singular choice here is committing to Resha's voice-over recollection as the emotional core instead of chasing the abduction spectacle—that restraint, paired with the meticulous layering of the shantytown production design on what was clearly a modest budget, creates a texture that feels lived-in rather than merely rendered.
Reviews
Outstanding cinematography, byzantine sets, and nuanced and compelling performances.
Incredibly well shot — viewers will marvel at Liam Garvo's shot composition, even as the short feels like it's constantly setting up a premise without delivering the payoff.