See Saw
2023 · 12m · USA
Directed by Matt Porter
Tones: darkly comic, melancholic, tense
When low-ranking intern Glenn wakes up to discover his personal data has been leaked and is spreading virally across the globe, it brings unexpected tension to his relationship with his girlfriend and forces him to confront what it means to truly be 'seen.'
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Sony hack reimagined as intimate boyfriend-girlfriend vulnerability play. Clever pitch, but "sincere character study about digital exposure" is the kind of thing I read in a press release and immediately forget.
An Aspen Shortsfest selection that uses the Sony hack as scaffold for an intimate character study — the move from headline to vulnerability is the right one, but the premise lives closer to Black Mirror than curatorial cinema. Capable rather than essential.
Aspen + Hollyshorts + Short of the Week selections at 11:31, and the credit list (DP, AD, dedicated sound mixer, original score) reads like a serious production. Taking the Sony hack as scaffolding for an intimate vulnerability study is the kind of inversion-from-headline move that needs careful tonal calibration to not feel reductive.
Reviews
In the brief eleven and a half minutes of See Saw, Director Matt Porter's viral culture comedy is able to capture the overwhelming paranoia that comes with being at the centre of a viral leak whilst also finding time for moments of levity.
See Saw deftly explores the vulnerability and paranoia that come with living in an increasingly interconnected and surveilled society, and Porter masterfully combines suspense with a thought-provoking narrative.
Festivals
- Aspen ShortsFest 2024