Film Review Progress

Film Review Progress

Below is the original draft copy of our film review, this is going to be put into the review template that we made earlier to make it look good. There is also a plaintext version below the image:



Plaintext Version:


The Faceless Man Review Draft

Upon watching this short film the contexts and influences seem obvious, this psychological thriller is a bricolage of several other popular psychological thrillers/horrors before it. The first of these that I noticed is fight club; The Faceless Man uses single frame images pasted into the middle of the sequence to create a very eery effect where you can only just pick up on the pictures of the protagonist's schizophrenic-esque visions. I can also see that the director has tried to create an atmosphere which is seen in films such as Fight Club and the Sixth Sense.

The protagonist in this short film has a mental illness which shows similarities to schizophrenia, though I don't believe the director was trying to imitate a specific existing mental illness. The character is wearing nice clothes throughout the whole sequence, indicative of higher class, similar to the clothes the psychiatrist talking to him is wearing. Both of the actors, Oscar Martin and Erol Akin, performed well throughout the whole film, however in both of their cases it didn't sound as if they had well practiced their lines but delivered a good performance none the less. 

One of the key themes explored in this short film is mental illness. As mentioned earlier, the main character/protagonist has an illness which bears much resemblance to schizophrenia in the fact that the protagonist sees multiple people which he believes to be real. The film also presents a significant twist which creates drama and excitement for the audience. The plot follows the main character as the psychiatrist explores his mind, picking apart what he's thinking through the past events which we see through flashbacks. These flashbacks get closer to the present moment, gradually revealing more and more to the audience until the story unfolds.

The film's story is explored in the plot through a non-linear narrative, this is made through the effective use of flashbacks which serve as a portal for the viewer to gain perspective into the mind of the main character. The non-linear narrative that the director has used in the case of this film is completely necessary in order for the viewer to gain an understanding of what exactly is happening.

The Faceless Man uses standard genre conventions which are seen in many psychological horror/thriller films, such as distorted sound and imagery, increased pace of shots, dark lighting, and more. The flashbacks in this film are also a key component to attributing the psychological horror/thriller genre to this film.

This film is an exploration into the psyche of a mentally ill patient, being treated (or perhaps evaluated) by a psychiatrist. It gives the viewer an insight into the horror that mental illness can be through the use of psychological thriller conventions, taking aspects of many other different films and making a mosaic out of them to create a bigger picture. Overall I would rate this film a four out of five, the acting lets it down very slightly and I can't give it a five because of this.