Oh Tony Curran...

Red Road(dir. Andrea Arnold)
Wasp is one of the best short films I've ever seen mainly because it didn't rely on a gimmick to be enjoyable and actually had a compelling narrative so I had to see this. The film starts off slow, but quickly picks up in it's last half hour or so. The film's biggest problem was withholding information that would have made the experience much more engaging and tense throughout, but dramatic reveals are the craze today. The dramatic reveal is actually handled in a rather straight-forward matter, it just seemed unnecessary to withhold that information up to the point even though it was fairly predictable information, but it didn't matter all that much since the rawness of the film's pivotal sex scene got me wrapped up into the film before the big reveal even occurred. The sex scene isn't exactly erotic or even pleasant, but the amount of drama and tension it creates is astonishing. The end seemed a "tad" too hopeful for it's own good. With such a bleak film, I guess it had to end with an unnaturally happy ending to make it satisfying to most audiences. It seemed like the film could have ended about 5 minutes before it actually ended and would have be far more satisfying. I could easily see how Jackie's act of vengeance near the end could be off-putting because it's slightly presposterous and it's definately unnecessary. I highly recommend seeing this film.
***1/2 out of ****