The Root of the Problem
2012 · 14m · Estados Unidos
Directed by Ryan Spindell
Genres: dark comedy, mystery, thriller
Tones: darkly comic, surreal, tense
In the candy-coloured world of 1950s suburbia, a housewife suspects that the friendly neighbourhood dentist is hiding a terrible secret. But is it just the anaesthesia, or is something more sinister hiding beneath the surface?
Picked by Margot
The scouts
It wants to be a Twilight Zone riff on dentistry and suburban paranoia, which is fine, but the film doesn't actually commit to the weird—it hedges between dark comedy and thriller in a way that feels like it's afraid of its own premise.
Spindell demonstrates real control over the grammar of '50s visual culture and suspense rhythm, working within the well-established lineage of Poe-inflected domestic horror; the film's restraint and compositional precision elevate what could be pulp into something architecturally considered.
The genius move here is the sound design—the dentist's drill cuts underneath nearly every scene, never letting you settle into the candy-colored calm, and that single audio choice is what makes the paranoia feel genuinely earned rather than imposed.