In the Light of Day Review
In the Light of Day is a 2020 short film written and directed by Ethan Lamb-Kelly.
In the Light of Day rests almost solely on the shoulders of actress Charlotte Dods and I am happy to report that she delivers here. While this is of course not the only aspect that makes a film good, in a small time period to really make a statement it is a critical one.
The short wastes no time with taking us from a majestic drone aerial shot to a horrid car crash all within the frame of 15 seconds. There is no time to get too comfortable here which lands to a great effect. From this point forward we are locked into a jittery camera struggling to maintain focus, echoing the critical state that our main protagonist is in after suffering this accident. The cinematography is naturalistic and even, as headed up by Josh NorthEast.
What I think I loved most about the short film is the ending, which if you want to watch first scroll down to the video itself before reading any further. On the ending though to me it becomes a real morality tale. This person who comes along to try to help only to turn his back at the assumption that she was drinking was very poignant. To my eye I saw it as how we can be so quick to judge when we have the power to do so, but if that person was the one in the accident he would be begging for help.
We never get a definitive answer as to if she was under the influence when the accident occurred and I really enjoyed that touch. For me even before that solid ending, I still felt as if the film was a very visceral look into how devastating a car accident can be. Just feeling so close to the character in her pained state was really strong all by itself.
All in all, I really enjoyed this short film. Without ever uttering a full sentence Lamb-Kelly leaves us with so much by the final credits of In the Light of Day. I genuinely enjoyed the piece and would highly recommend taking a look if you haven’t already, which sorry for spoiling it if you read on earlier in my review. Either way check it out.
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Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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