Doughnut
2021 · 14m · United Kingdom
Directed by Larry Ketang, Liam White
Genres: dark comedy, drama, thriller
Tones: contemplative, darkly comic, tense
An improv class ice-breaker game of two truths and a lie takes an unexpectedly dark turn when one participant's contribution rattles the whole group.
Picked by Felix
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Takes the suffocating consensus-building ritual of improv and weaponizes it—what starts as forced bonding becomes psychological ambush, which is exactly the kind of subversive sabotage of a beloved form that makes most people uncomfortable and me delighted.
A sharp formal exercise in how tonal registers collide; the film's control of when to lean comic versus when to pull the temperature down reveals filmmakers aware of the tonal lineage stretching back through Haneke and early Yorgos Lanthimos.
The decision to let the camera stay static and almost bored during the setup, then subtly tighten on faces once the lie lands, does all the psychological work—it's a camera choice that trusts the room's discomfort more than editing could ever achieve.
Reviews
Set at an improv class, where as an ice breaker the group plays a game of two truths and a lie, with their thematically complex short Doughnut, co-directors Liam White and Larry Ketang have created a storyline that leaves its audience with lots to unpack. As the evening takes an unexpected turn, aft
Festivals
- Manchester Film Festival 2021, Official Selection
- Go Short 2021, Official Selection
- Flatpack Festival 2021, Official Selection