IN2RUDERS **** UK 2018 Dir: Naeem Mahmood 23 mins
“What we need now is collective dominance”… A great surreal and gory short taking on the topic of corporate music labels, their hunger for fortune and their disregard for musical content or the art form in general. This visually stunning and emotive movie does verge very closely on the arthouse side of things which is not always my cup of tea but I couldn’t help but be fixated on this one the whole way through. It follows an identical twins pop duo, The Bloom Twins, as they are pursued by a huge label known as NWR. Boss of the company Ravana Serpentine (Caprice Bourret) has one of the twins on board but the other is not going to be bought so easily.
Serpentine ramps up the pressure by authorising torture and violation complete with a bone chilling lounge room number from a crooning Tony Hadley! The film goes along in a nightmarish haze of illusion and reality so as the viewer you are not entirely sure which is which. It may not make sense the whole time but it never seems confused itself. It is for you to decipher. The cast are pretty proficient some more than others. Caprice is stunning and really dominates her character. The twins are a little awkward to start with but you do warm to them. Considering this is their movie debut they do a good job and it would be good to see more of them, especially if it is under the guidance of such a talented director. The cinematography is fantastic, visually stimulating with an accomplished soundtrack and score throughout. The SPFX are very effective with a few scenes that will make you squirm about a bit. I’m unsure of how this would fair as a feature length as it is in danger of losing its point in a sea of psychedelic fog but it made for great viewing at a tad under 25 minutes.
Review by Sarah Budd