The Hobbyist
2016 · 9m · USA
Directed by George Vatistas
Genres: crime, drama, thriller
A nervous man visits a mysterious old druggist seeking an undetectable poison to murder his wife — but the sagacious alchemist's shop holds a darker bargain than he ever expected.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Everyone expects noir poison plots to twist into some clever reversal, but Vatistas just lets the real horror live in the transaction itself—two men negotiating damnation with the weight of actual consequence, which somehow feels more subversive than any gotcha ending ever could.
A precise adaptation of Brown's moral geometry, staged with the formal discipline of a two-hander that trusts conversation over spectacle; the apothecary becomes a confessional space where every shadow and pause carries the weight of literary intention translated into pure cinema.
The entire film hinges on the druggist's refusal to blink during the final negotiation—one actor's decision to hold stillness while another unravels transforms a premise about poison into something about the cost of complicity, shot with nothing but practical light and restraint.
Reviews
The Hobbyist is a stylish little short from 2016 and a wonderful debut film from Vatistas.
A captivating account of action, consequence, and murder all bathed in a palette fit for David Fincher.
Festivals
- NYC Independent Film Festival 2016
- Mykonos Biennale 2017
- Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival 2020