The Contestant Review
The Contestant is a 2020 short film written, directed, and produced by Ron Williams.
A devilishly dark comedy that shines past even some technical shortcomings, The Contestant presents some interesting ideas that deliver genuinely solid story beats.
Despite the darkly interesting premise as mentioned, the biggest thing holding this short back is some technical missteps. There are some shots with much too soft focus to be held on for as long as they are, and the audio is mixed decently, but it comes with a far too tinny sound scape throughout. Continuing on with the visuals the cinematography is another department which is ok although the harsh stage lighting is a little blown out in the highlights for most scenes.
Through all this, though, there is a really wonderful story that presents some cool twists and turns. While simplistic, it crosses into black comedy territory to great effect. We rarely see this brand of comedy in short films, so it is a nice refresher to see it utilized so well in this short.
The world building is also a high point in this film, creating an obvious universe where trying to be selected for something is literally life or death. While the film doesn’t quite showcase the ultimate reward for those who are given approval by some seemingly malevolent figure, it does at least hint at it in the story. The piece will forever leave us to wonder what amazing talent Daniel was going to show off as well by the end.
This was a film that was made as part of a mystery box film challenge, and the rules were to utilize a few key items and a line of dialogue. These were all done to impressive effect and without knowing that one would probably have never guessed since it was all integrated so seamlessly.
To wrap up this is not a perfect film and one that has a share of technical issues, but it still one that has a clear voice. It is nice to see something stand above itself in this regard.
To follow on social media: Cinema Vertigogo and Ron Williams.
Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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