Film Short Review - Contact (2009)

Contact

The audio review:

 

Jeremiah Kipp's short film, at only ten minutes in length, is packed with tension. The film is shot in black-and-white, with minimal dialogue, stylistic shot choices, and trippy, psychedelic music that takes the diegetic sound of the film and creates noise from it.

Our focus is on a couple who buy a drug that induces some sort of trip between the two lovers; of course, their experience isn't as happy, sexual, and free-spirited as they thought it would be, because they soon find their faces melded together in what one might refer to as an extreme super-gluing accident.

The suspense begins right at the start of the film, as a husband and wife sit down to dinner. There are three places set, and only two are filled. The lack of dialogue between the two older people sets the tone of the film; we soon wonder what their deal is, and when a knock at the door signals a scene break, it's apparent that all is not well within this family.

Then, Kipp treats us to a very intriguing shot of a younger couple (played by Robb Leigh Davis and Zoe Daelman Chlanda) framed portrait-style. These stylistic choices are what drive the short film, as Kipp uses camera angles to his advantage. Later on, the shots become more important, especially as Chlanda begins to trip on the drug. At first, the drug seems benign enough, but both the camera and music start to degrade into each other, with spinning cameras to bring the viewer along on the drug ride. It's purposefully disorienting, and tension builds as we start to see Chlanda collapse into a fit of hysterics.

The height of the film is the joining of the couple in the kiss; the gore, though in black-and-white, is disturbing, and the intimacy of the experience is broken by the disgusting "skin-rope" between the two. Kipp doesn't linger on the effects, too, which makes everything even more creepy.

And then we're back to where we were at the beginning of the short, as Chlanda, feeling much better after the effects of the drug wear off, embraces her comforting father. The significance of the family is never really explained, which does leave a bit unanswered, but overall Kipp works to create a tight and taut experience that gracefully spans ten minutes. Kipp sure has an eye for suspense, and it's obvious that the lack of dialogue and color were stylistic choices made to chill the viewer; Contact is a fine example of how limiting film effects can create a disturbing atmosphere.