Perpetual Review

Perpetual is a 2021 short film written and directed by Alexander Vanegas Sus.

In what feels like a fever dream born out of a world filled in locked down dread Perpetual will smack you in the face with existential musings and never let up.

We begin with a man fully clothed in a bathtub reflecting on life in what starts as a tone of chilling atmosphere. From there we get glimpses, small vignettes of time as we inter-cut between contemplative talking to the open air and direct address to the camera.

It is all hauntingly shot with beautiful cinematography courtesy of Joao Pedro Ajevado who finds an amazing balance between a neon-soaked bathroom and dimly light interiors. The low contrast style of the piece adds an extra layer of depth to everything.

The mood sets in straightaway here with a slow dolly push to a man clearly ruminating over so many aspects of life which has an instant connection to the audience. The claustrophobic camera angles leave us with his thoughts, forced to think through these heavy concepts alongside him.

The effective score from composer Christopher Schlechte-Bond has a seamless transition from scene to scene so well, as yet another compliment to everything else on-screen. This effect only heightened by the sound design from Giuseppe Pennetta.

You could pen a novel from all the large concepts Vanegas Sus brings up here. It is heavy but yet constantly ever so topical. With Daniel Hayde doing wonders to elevate the material, adding a believable yet menacing turn in his lead role.

Perpetual is a deep film and comes with a warning of this being a short that will make you think. It is dripping with atmospheric detail and layered writing. It may have a veneer of simplicity, but underneath all of that is something deeper than films with much longer runtimes could ever aspire to touch.

To follow on social media: Alexander Vanegas Sus, Joao Azevedo, Daniel Hayde, Christopher Schlechte-Bond, Giuseppe Pennetta, and Liam Bewell.

Cheers!

Daniel Hess

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