Film Review: The Gift (short film) (2017)

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SYNOPSIS:

A prostitute fleeing from the scene of a murder is offered refuge in an old antique store by the mysterious shopkeeper. Upon hearing her story, he offers her a way out of her predicament in the form of a gift.

REVIEW:

More short films, kiddies! Today we have THE GIFT, written and directed by Tom Ryan.

This film was sent to me by request (yes, I do requests) by the filmmakers. It is the first of four short stories that will ultimately be part of an anthology film. I do love anthology films. If you don’t know what that is, basically its a collection of short stories with a connecting theme.

In this film, our story opens on a prostitute named Donna (Heather Brittain O’Scanlon) plying her trade on a cold evening. The “client” gets a bit aggressive and ,well…let’s just say it doesn’t end well for him.

Donna legs it to a local antique shop, looking for a place to hide. There she is greeted by the shopkeeper (Adam Ginsberg), an apparently very sweet old man who engages her in conversation about her life.

We learn that Donna was not always a “lady of the evening”. In fact, Donna had a heck of a great life once upon a time. But as such things do, it went horribly wrong in spite of the best of intentions.

The shopkeeper makes her an offer, a chance to make things right. One should always be careful what they wish for, kids.

Mr. Ginsberg as the kindly shopkeeper was so amazing. I would be curious to know if his character will be a part of the full anthology, as well as the shop itself.

The filmmaker’s had some great locations, props, and design aspects to this short. The technical side of the production is quite good. Sound, film quality, score choices…they really hit the mark on just about everything. I am definitely a fan of the dialogue. From the first moments of conversation in the shop, I was already quoting stuff. I do hope that the next installments in this project come my way.

I really enjoyed this film. I couldn’t help but think of FRIDAY THE 13TH THE SERIES, of which I was a huge fan. That show focused on a family who ran an antique store that was actually a warehouse for cursed items, things that gave you what you always wanted but at a heavy price.

So using my special short scale of one to five, five being awesome, I’m giving this film 4 antiques.