Film Review: Mr. Sam (short film) (2019)

SYNOPSIS:

When a mortician’s love for a corpse is discovered; his once peaceful but twisted life begins to unravel.

REVIEW:

More short films, kiddies! Today we have MR. SAM, written and directed by Zeus Kontoyannis. This film has a boatload of awards, most of them for the director and for the film’s star, Christopher Piccione.

The eponymous hero is a mortician, which is important and not really important at the same time. Its all about the character himself – his odd way of speaking and of dress, his strange predilictions, and his seemingly lonely life.

There is so much going on here that i’m not sure how to begin. I certainly don’t want to give spoilers. I will say that the first four minutes alone are more than worth the price of admission. This film runs for almost 30 minutes and it never loses momentum or fails to keep my interest in any way.

Mr. Piccione is so compelling as Mr. Sam, a character that is deeply compelling by design. Everything about his performance is almost other-worldly. The other cast members are very good as well, but it is Mr. Piccione that is the real center of this film.

There is a lot of deep psychological stuff going on in this story. I suppose I should say that the themes in this story are very adult in nature and in no way for young viewers. In all honesty, perhaps a good portion of this story could be triggery for some people.

I really don’t want to give anything away, so I don’t think I can give any more detail than I already have. I will say that i absolutely loved this film. Probably one of the strongest short films I have seen in a long time.