Forever's Not So Long
2009 · 13m · USA
Directed by Shawn Morrison
Genres: dark comedy, drama
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, melancholic
During a global catastrophe, a man named George discovers that the end of the world is the perfect time to lose everything — a dark comedy drama that won Grand Jury Prize at 1 Reel Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award at DC Shorts.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Morrison's refusal to show the apocalypse is the bravest budget decision and the best narrative one — keeping the camera on George's face while the world ends off-frame makes the personal stakes feel enormous, which is exactly the inverse of how disaster movies usually work.
Apocalypse-as-backdrop is a workable framing and the prize was actual (1 Reel, DC Shorts). Twelve minutes is long enough to overstay; the premise is sturdier than the comps.
Shawn Morrison stages the apocalypse off-screen and stays on one man's personal catastrophe — funnier and sadder than any effects sequence. 1 Reel Grand Jury Prize earned through restraint.
Festivals
- 1 Reel Film Festival 2009, Grand Jury Prize
- DC Shorts Film Festival 2009, Audience Choice Award