Defunded Review

Defunded is a 2021 short film written and directed by Zachary A Bohlman.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Defunded certainly captures the more dramatic side to where a young adult’s mind would go to in a fever dream while sensing the walls closing in financially.

Taken in the context of the great short film, what we are presented with is something that certainly delivers a cohesive narrative structure but lacks in any kind of visual variety that would help keep things more interesting. There is a reason for this, most likely from a budgetary standpoint, but the old rule of “show don’t tell” certainly applies here.

In addition, there are some technical considerations to be made. The biggest being the lighting, which really becomes an issue with the police lights toward the climax of the piece. The outside and inside really don’t match up. One seems to be day or perhaps evening, while the other is night time. Without a shot of the character closing all the windows to account for the darkness in the home, it just makes everything a touch jarring.

That said, the ending of the film makes everything a touch easier to bear. If you haven’t seen the film yet, take a look at the link below and continue on to avoid spoilers.

The fact that the entire piece was just a dream could be argued to be a cliché addition, but it at the very least justifies the more over the top aspects of the piece. It would seem very fitting for someone younger to really spiral with their thoughts on how to accrue finances quickly. However, it almost feels like the approach in those what we see are dream like moments perhaps should have gone into a less straight serious style. As it stands, it almost teeters a line between the two places, not really committing to either.

Defunded has good intentions to it and with a little more polish in the visuals and more depth to the character, there is certainly something here. Where it lands now isn’t as strong as it could be, but it keeps the pacing brisk and the beats always driving the story forward despite any of the setbacks.

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

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