Little Games
2020 · 14m · UK
Directed by Stéfane Houssier
Genres: drama, mystery, thriller
Tones: provocative, surreal, tense
A woman fleeing domestic violence arrives at a country manor hotel, where she becomes entangled with a young girl named Amelia who shares a disturbing family secret—blurring the line between a child's cry for help and a cruel psychological game.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Domestic-violence-victim-meets-creepy-child-at-country-hotel — Orphan compressed into fourteen minutes with the twists telegraphed in the first three. Watchable, predictable.
The shift from domestic-violence drama to creepy-child thriller is a workable turn, and Hannah Arterton is a capable lead. Genre-comfortable rather than essential.
The genre-switch from domestic-violence drama to ambiguous child-thriller is a specific structural bet - whether Amelia is victim or manipulator. 14 min on Klipist; the success depends entirely on the child performance and the staging choices I can't verify here.
Reviews
Suspense is arguably the best aspect of this short drama thriller, as it has so much of it in its twelve-minute duration.
Festivals
- Paris International Film Festival 2022
- Crystal Palace International Film Festival 2021
- Catalina Film Festival 2021
- Knoxville Film Festival 2021
- DC Shorts International Film Festival 2021
- Lighthouse International Film Festival 2021
- Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival 2021