Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Live Stream Review


As a short film events organizer, it’s generally in my best interests to not pick favourite films, only to show as many high quality shorts as possible in order to ensure a great turn out of audience members.  However, every so often I have to stop and give praise to a film which really encapsulates modern issues.  For this reason alone, Vivi Hernandez’s “Live Stream” is an eight-minute masterpiece.  It tells the story of Susie, a video logger with young Nigella Lawson vibes, who we see sensually preparing cakes for her online fanbase and portraying herself as one half of a perfect marriage.  However as is often the case, things are not so perfect beneath the surface.  Her husband, skilfully played by Kristian Evans, is nonchalant to the point of emotionally neglectful, treating her not as the modern Goddess Susie hopes to be, but as a kitchen slave.  It’s a poignant reflection that even in 2019, archaic values of a woman’s place being in the kitchen still persist.  The film’s real genius is derived from its use of the text comments from the online fanbase.  The text acts as a third character, praising Susie, then delighting in her downfall, initially heightening the comedic response from the film, then the emotional response the viewer has for Susie’s emotional turmoil. Hernandez’s acting is vibrant, with the right level of theatricality to land not just its comedic punches, but the emotional ones as well.  I can think of only a few better ways to spend eight minutes than watching this endearing little short.

No comments: