The Raven
2010 · 6m · USA
Directed by Ricardo de Montreuil
Genres: action, sci-fi, thriller
In a near-future authoritarian Los Angeles, a hunted man known as The Raven — who possesses an undefined ability that threatens the regime — is relentlessly pursued through the city in an extended chase sequence that gradually reveals his nature.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
De Montreuil's The Raven demonstrates what formal discipline under material constraint can produce — the $5,000 sci-fi chase film that reads as a genuine genre work, not a student approximation. The economy of means is itself instructive.
$5K, RED camera, near-future LA chase. The director-as-calling-card short, executed with the kind of formal control that gets you a feature. It is what it is — and it's been imitated enough times that the original probably still hits.
Ricardo de Montreuil's $5K RED-shot near-future LA chase whose production values genuinely defy the budget. Reads as a calling card, but executed with enough formal control to stand alone.
Reviews
The film is brisk, looks beautiful and grabs you from the get-go. As a sci-fi fan I can say that I was gripped from beginning to end.