Screw the Pooch Review

Screw the Pooch is a 2021 short film written and directed by Amy Brandis.

With death and sickness being such a consistent theme for the year that was 2020, it seems only fitting that a short like Screw the Pooch would come along to find levity and comedy in the pure amalgamation of death incarnate.

If there is one critique that one could mention about this short to get things out of the way it would have to be some moments of jarring edits, which are not frequent but do come along enough to be noticeable, cutting off dialogue right before a natural conclusion.

Luckily though, outside of this small nitpick there is a lot to love with this film. It is a smart blend of tragedy and comedy, something that is not a minor feat to achieve. It is through this and a varied use of locations and camera movement that we have a nice well-rounded film.

The striking imagery of a woman being followed by death itself is an instantly eye catching one and it is not something here that has a gimmicky purpose. Kudos goes to Nadia Lamin for carrying the weight of not only her own character but playing off of a silent protagonist or one supposes antagonist like death.

The cinematography by Leo Brandis has some powerful moments of lighting in both night and daytime settings. There is a bit of liberty taken at the end with an outdoor set up which was actually nicely reminiscent of the exaggerated lighting from Beetlejuice which was wonderfully macabre.

Brandis took many bold steps to even try to tackle a dark comedy about a woman dealing with grief and death. It is something that reaches all of us eventually and the steps that we take to deal with and avoid it can be extreme on both sides. This is without a doubt a strong script with wonderfully realized characters that all come together beautifully.

Screw the Pooch may pull you in with the dichotomous tones of an eccentric young woman and her companion of death, but it will keep you with its beautifully charismatic tragic comedy story. It is a solid film all around and even has a nice reference to The Seventh Seal, which the unwritten code of film law demands notation.

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

Film Festival and Award Highlights:

London Independent Film Festival

Honorary Mention London Independent Monthly Festival

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