In Extremis
2014 · 14m · United Kingdom
Directed by Gregory Crosbie
Genres: horror, mystery, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
A night watchman is sent to guard the cellar of a museum by its mysterious curator, but once alone in these vaults he starts to hear something.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Crosbie's playing it frustratingly straight — dark contemplative horror is everywhere now, and this doesn't seem interested in upending the form or making me uncomfortable in a *new* way.
A disciplined meditation on dread that understands the grammar of psychological thriller; the restraint and tonal consistency suggest a filmmaker thinking rigorously about genre convention.
There's a single formal choice — maybe the decision to withhold or the precise rhythm of revelation — that pivots this from competent mood piece into something that actually *lands*; that's the film I want to understand.
Reviews
The cast is small, with only three real characters, but they're all appropriately cast and good at what they do. Also, it looks great, and more importantly, it has a real plot and characters, which is never a guarantee with shorts.