Darkside
2022 · 11m · Canada
Directed by Spencer Zimmerman
Genres: sci-fi
Tones: melancholic, surreal, theatrical
After a devastating tragedy, an astronaut struggles to complete his interstellar mission to rescue a lost crew, in a meditation on loss, grief, and the everlasting power of love.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Student Interstellar cover band with a CA$10K budget — admirable hustle, but the director's quote about 'fleeting moments of connection' is the kind of thing that makes me reach for my phone. Practical effects are cute; the script sounds like every grief-in-space short ever made.
An earnest student production that pours 720 days of craft into a Nolan-and-Kubrick cosplay; the director's quoted statement is sweet but betrays the limits of the form. Ambition outpaces vision here.
720 days of student production on a CA$10K budget to build practical sets and VFX selling interstellar space — that ratio of ambition to means is staggering, even if the Interstellar/2001 comparisons load the gun heavy. The Klipist page leans on director sincerity over craft specifics, so I'm rooting for the work ethic more than promising the execution lands.
Reviews
A wonderfully made film, and Zimmerman is a filmmaker to keep on the radar.
It trips itself up with the level of emotion that it's going for in its plot.
Festivals
- Leo Awards 2022, Best Student Production
- NFFTY 2022, Audience Choice
- NFFTY 2022, Special Achievement in VFX