Kinks Review
Kinks is a 2021 short film directed by Jayden Creighton.
A darkly twisted tale that combines horror, thriller and dramatic elements all into a satisfying package, Kinks provides a sinister air to your lungs that never lets up.
One might be surprised to hear going into a film like this one that there is actually quite a bit of character motivation rolled into this short narrative. However, this is completely the case, and it all works quite well to give a context for how the evening transpires for all involved.
At the most critical end of the spectrum, the only sour note that could be mounted against the film was at the very beginning with our lead escort character, as portrayed by Rachael Winter Baskerville. The emotional resonance just does not really strike a chord as well as it feels it should. This falls somewhere in the middle between performance and dialogue, perhaps.
Outside of that though the rest of film hits much stronger, with a solid pace in the editing as well as the story beats. Everything builds off of the last piece of foundation laid, which is what you want in a well-told story.
The cinematography by Alfred Naupoto works best in the more contained scenes but even in the larger set pieces the vivid lighting works well. A little more play with the shadows from the mechanical pieces in the warehouse could have been fun, but perhaps it would go against with the quicker flow of the film.
Given again the title of the short this is not a film for the faint at heart from either a gore or sexual standpoint. It certainly goes full exploit territory, but it hits with some extreme. Think of it as a Tarantino style, but early Tarantino where more is left up to the imagination than outright showing all the nasty bits.
Kinks is a dark short film that sets a solid voice that it does not deviate from. There are enough twist and turns to keep you engaged, and it never misses a beat to keep the energy up. A solid cross between B-Movie goodness and more refined thrillers that you just don’t see enough of.
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Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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