Cuxball
2023 · 12m · USA
Directed by Dave Paige
Genres: comedy, surrealism
At an early morning landscaping job, Sam discovers a cassette tape buried in the ground. After hearing its contents, they're led to a bingo hall where a bizarre performance unfolds — men in bird costumes dancing to the commands of an eccentric organizer.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Buried-cassette leads to men in bird costumes performing for an organizer at a bingo hall. Natalie Palamides cast confirms tonal commitment. This is the kind of weird I'll defend at a party.
Sam discovers a cassette tape and stumbles into a bingo hall of men in bird costumes — Paige is working the Eagle vs Shark register of deadpan absurdism, with River L. Ramirez and Natalie Palamides giving it real comic muscle. Twelve minutes of confident strangeness.
Voyeuristic zooms and wide-angle lenses to render a bingo-hall bird-costume ritual is a specific cinematographic posture for absurdist comedy — leaning into discovery-from-distance rather than coverage. 12 minutes; the lens grammar carries the surrealism.
Reviews
Writer/director Dave Paige transforms this mundane discovery into a surprising and intriguing narrative, creating a uniquely comedic situation where we experience events through a protagonist who is just as clueless about the situation as we are.
River L. Ramirez's portrayal of Sam is vital to the short's success, nailing the tone and delivery of both the comedy and the weirdness flawlessly, making their character endearing and easy to root for.
Festivals
- Dances With Films 2023
- DTLA Film Festival 2023, Best Supporting Actors