Truth Serum
2022 · 21m · UK
Directed by Vika Evdokimenko
Genres: dark comedy, drama
Tones: darkly comic, tense
A London housewarming party spirals into chaos when the guests are secretly dosed with a mysterious drug that compels them to blurt out the ugly truths they've been hiding from each other. As long-held secrets surface, friendships and relationships start to crack under the weight of forced honesty.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A truth serum at a housewarming party sounds like the setup for a lazy Apatow riff, but Evdokimenko uses the pharmacological gimmick as a scalpel rather than a sledgehammer—watching it dismantle polite adult friendships from the inside is genuinely unsettling in ways most comedies are too cowardly to attempt.
The film situates itself in a lineage of drawing-room comedies and Bunuelian social provocations, executing the premise with formal precision: each revelation lands as a carefully timed beat, and the editing knows exactly when to let discomfort breathe before cutting to the next confession.
What elevates this beyond the one-joke concept is the decision to play the aftermath with genuine consequence—watching friendships calcify in real time rather than snap back for a neat ending is the single choice that transforms a high-concept premise into something that actually matters.
Reviews
Wildly, irreverently comedic with an unflinchingly biting, persuasively compelling display of life truths.
When ugly truths start to emerge, chaos reigns and threatens the relationships of old friends.
Festivals
- Cambridge Film Festival 2022
- Short Focus Film Festival 2022