BLASTOFF
2022 · 4m · USA
Directed by Rick Darge
Genres: comedy, experimental
Tones: absurdist, humorous, surreal
Two friends — one doing home renovations, the other drinking a catastrophic quantity of LaCroix sparkling water — discover that carbonation has unexpected, explosive consequences for the human body.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A man drinks too much LaCroix and escapes via his own gaseous emissions in a Shawshank parody — finally, cinema that takes sparkling water as seriously as it deserves.
Rick Darge and John Weselcouch treat a one-minute LaCroix gag with the visual gravity of a Shawshank escape — Vimeo Staff Pick comedy where the format is the joke's commitment. Brisk and well-shot.
One minute treating LaCroix overconsumption with the dead-serious grammar of a sci-fi escape film, including explicit Shawshank homage — the gap between premise and execution IS the joke. 74K views and Rick Darge's track record suggest it works.