Flail
2024 · 10m · USA
Directed by Ben Gauthier
Tones: absurdist, humorous, tense
A personal assistant tries to pull off her boss's birthday party while LA throws every conceivable indignity at her — parking-garage traps, forgotten airport pickups, cake disasters, breakup texts. iPhone overlays and a drum-and-bass score turn errands into anxiety opera.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Most films about phones still treat them as props. This one lets the iPhone overlay become the antagonist, with drum-and-bass for nerves. Yes please.
Run Lola Run rerouted through an LA assistant's group-text hell — Gauthier weaponizes iPhone overlays and drum-and-bass to externalize the anxiety, which is a real formal choice. Loud but earned.
iPhone overlays plus a drum-and-bass score externalizing digital harassment while a personal assistant runs LA errands — the formal language IS the anxiety. Page summary signals it's actually pulled off, not just attempted.