Grae

Come Die with Me

Dine Hard, the next reality TV cooking show with a host that's a ghost and the guest does the rest!

This was such a fun concept, I loved Mabel's upbeat energy, despite being dead, and Jerry's awkwardness and ineptness in the kitchen was such a fun counter-balance! Amazing work managing to pull off the translucency throughout the entire film too, having worked heavily in VFX for a 48Hour project a few years back, I know it's no easy task to have nearly every shot being a special effect!

A suggestion I'd make would be to focus on your technical setup. Add in more shots, and maybe expand the world outside of the kitchen! I can see your vision with the reality TV set up, lovely wide angle capturing the kitchen action (also a handy trick to 'ghost up' your lead!), though oftentimes these reality shows have two-three cameras rolling at once - which you could potentially fudge if you've only got one camera with extra takes from different angles. Sometimes reality cooking shows go elsewhere too, like explaining where the food comes from - it could've been fun to see Jerry have to go out and kill the chicken for the meal!

Overall though, a really fun time with this one, what a wonderfully quirky take on the ghost genre, and it's clear you all had a great time making it! I can't wait to see what you pull together next year :)

Chaos Cabin

A couple reach their rental cabin for the night only to find their entire world shaken..

WOW, tackling an animated film with this level of detail and scale in 48Hours is impressive, but also reading that the director used just one motion capture suit and an iPhone just blows me away!
As a blender absolute-newbie (I've made the stock standard tutorial donuts) the level of craft and skill you've utilised to pull this film together I can't see as anything short of (as Meesh.M has noted) magic! The shot choice, sound, foley and reveal at the end were all absolutely fantastic, you clearly have a very skilled, talented and creative team!

My one suggestion would be to build out the world's story a little more. It's been a hot minute since I've seen this in the heats, so I'm relying on my rather poor memory here, but I didn't quite understand who the folk were that were already in the cabin, why were they there? I understand it helped build the lead up to the end reveal, but just understanding why might help build the immersion a little more in future.

All in all, what an INCREDIBLE effort with this film team! Amazing work, and absolutely deserve that spot in the city shortlist!

Brunch Solstice

Guy goes to brunch at his girlfriend's house for the first time, and gets more than he bargained for!

I loved the use of 'holiday' for this, I've never been to a brunch solstice before, but this has affirmed I never will! What a fantastic and quirky premise!

While I didn't entirely understand everything about the film (What was this cult's purpose? Did the sock transport him to another dimension?? Turn him to ash??) I didn't feel I needed to know entirely in order to get the mystery of the cult.

Absolute highlight for me was your main actor, fantastically goofy, awkward, and charming all at once! Even despite letting the sacrifice get, well, sacrificed because his girlfriend was hot I just felt worked because of how charismatic he was, so kudos!

Great work team, looking forward to seeing more going forward!

2025 national 48 hours winner

A documentarian battles against nature... and his interns!

What a hilarious concept, and my god what a way to round out the heats this year! Toot Toot's brand of comedy is so unique, absurdist, and always feels so very 48Hours!

I loved the performances here, so dry, deadpan and yet also just delightfully ridiculous! I loved that this film played so much with breaking the fourth wall, it was a delight to see the AI camera + interns wreck our documentarian's sensibilities, all while drawing attention to the fact that this was a 48Hours film!

My suggestions for next year would be to structure your film a wee bit more on the technical side - Toot Toot's wonderfully absurdist humour with a bit more technical flare and polish I think would enable Toot Toot-City-Final-Domination!

Also what a shot to end three days of heats on. Y'all knew you were gonna be last and my GOD you aimed high, and delivered!

A Silence In Sam's Town

In the midst of his grief, a man ventures to the beach with a note and a necklace for his deceased wife.

This was an emotional hardhitter from start to finish! In amongst a sea of comedies, I LOVE seeing stories like this that don't shy away from laying those heavy emotions bare on the table, that aren't afraid to be bold in their storytelling!

Your lead actor just blew it out of the park, with a performance that I think may be the most emotionally captivating out of the whole of the competition- he felt all of that emotionally brutal heartache that comes with loss, and was pulling us along as an audience with him. Bravo!

One suggestion I might add would be to the story - we felt a lot for this character, but it could have heightened even further if we saw some flashbacks of when the couple were together, alive and happy, to really visually illustrate who and what he has lost, that might help twist that emotionally gut-wrenching knife even further!

We were in a team this year that also touched on death and grief, so maybe I'm a smidge biased, but like I've said before, I love, love, LOVE seeing this kind of emotionally confronting content in this competition. It's a beautiful point of difference, I can't wait to see if you make it through to the city finals, and what you make next year!

Hi Santa, it's Charlie

Charlie calls Santa to make sure his model train order is correct, before calling back again, and again...

This little film blew me away. With such a simple premise that could be construed as comedic, I found this short a beautiful, heart-wrenching character study on one man's loneliness and search for connection, a search he can only find in calling the Santa hotline.

The use of just a singular shot for the majority of the film was a bold choice, but one that absolutely paid off - just reinforcing that isolation, that desperate bid for connection, and as an audience we get sucked in to the loneliness of Charlie. I simply just couldn't look away despite how much I wanted to!
Charlie absolutely knocks it out of the park with his acting here too, with only one shot this film needed to be carried by the actors, and my god did he hit the mark!

Judging by the reviews here this film could be seen as divisive, but for me this film absolutely hit the mark, it's bold in its storytelling and its choices, and I think this is perfect for the city finals!

Emergency Key

A man is on the run to find the emergency key, and unlock his *true* destiny. Hopefully.

What an energetic film! Right from the get go with that opening shot I knew we were going to be in for a fast-paced time! What a move shooting in the night too! Was that on the Friday or the Saturday night?? Loved the end reveal of what they were running for too - and like Meesh.M noted, that shot of the opponent suddenly light up in the shadows, absolutely gripping!

One suggestion that might be worth considering could be in developing the story a little further - as some other reviews have noted, there isn't a huge amount of change in variety in the tone or pace of the film, it's go-go-go from the start, and doesn't let up. Allowing for a bit more story elements to bleed through the high-intensity may help to build in some ebbs and flows of the story, and help slowly reveal the context of WHY he's running! I had that 'oh of course!' moment in the reveal at the end, but you could have slipped in some subtle story hints in earlier that may have helped build that audience intrigue and investment.

Overall, a fast-paced race against both time and the limits of the human bowel system, great work!

G.P. Taylor

After many years hidden away, an omnipotent AI reveals itself to our heroes, Ru and Lou, and makes them participate in a games show that knows alllllll about them...

Such a fun film team! And great work with only three of you pulling this off!
I really loved the switch between the 'normal' world and the cassette's 'game show' - the lighting, close ups, and moustache were all absolutely brilliant and really added to the sense of another place!
Also your styling of costumes gave a really fantastic flavour to your characters, giving that real funky kind of aesthetic!

One suggestion you may want to consider for next year would be to (as Creativesmith has already mentioned) add in more angles, different shots to help with honing that visual interest and intrigue for the audience! Another possible idea to consider would be tightening your story elements - in this story our AI cassette comes in almost halfway through the film - with only 5 minutes that's a good chunk of the run time! Consider introducing your key story action right near the top of the film - that way you can bring the audience with you for the action while also feeding them that backstory and greater context!

Overall though, what a fun film! I had such a blast watching this, and with this kind of funky aesthetic and creativity, I can't wait to see what you pull together next year!

Glove Box

In the midst of their getaway, a couple of criminals fight over opening the glove box...

This film was just so expertly pulled together! The shots, lighting, sound, performances were all fantastic! I loved how natural the banter and arguments flowed between the two criminals, and leaving the audience on tenterhooks over exactly WHAT was in the glovebox was brilliant. I really enjoyed the fact that we didn't get to know what was in the polaroids, although it may have been good to see something in them rather than black, to insinuate something that may help the audience's imagination.

One suggestion I might add to this, which I believe has already been noted by other reviewers, but it's literally the only thing I think that held you back from being city finalists this year, which was the story. We were dropped into the middle of the action (which I ALWAYS love when we immediately get thrown into a film like that), but considering your short run time, the film may have benefited a little more from learning more about these characters - what did they do before we see them in the car? What's their motives, their choices that led them to this situation? Learning a little more about why the driver had locked the polaroids in the glove box - or at the very least, giving a little more nuggets of information that really just enables the audience's imaginations to run wild!

Overall, this film was an absolute winner! Creativesmith, I'm sorry to hear you're going to be taking a break from 48Hours for a while! You and your team have a whole heap of talent here, and I look forward to your eventual return to the competition!

Misplaced Death

Death tries to kill people, misplaces his scythe, antics ensue!

Hands down this for me was the strongest film of the heat (watched it online last night as we couldn't make it in person!)

When it comes to a lot of 48 Hour films, so many folk (myself included) get caught up in telling over complicated stories - what Death Misplaced excels at so brilliantly is telling a short, simple, compelling story beautifully! With a concise beginning, middle and end this story was clear and engaging throughout.

The visual storytelling was sharp, concise, and informative all at once. Cinematography was sharp, Death's actor handled the physical acting fantastically, and WOW that slow motion shot of Death running, cape billowing, absolutely cinematic.
I'd also put this forward for best use of miniature, love how integral it was to the plot, and how panicked Death was when he lost it.

One thing I'd suggest for a film with this, it would've been cool to see this film go totally without dialogue - for me while it was enjoyable to see, it may have benefitted from purely physical storytelling. But that's just a little note!

Overall: Brilliant story, handled excellently team, this feels like city finalist material! Cannot wait to see what you create in future!

A Delicate Situation

Dave learns that loneliness is a choice that we make... by listening to his washing appliances.

This was such a fun concept for Man vs Machine! As a genre, Man vs Machine often invites more aggressive and brutal representations of AI turning on humans, but this was a delightful subversion that focused on a more homely and emotive heart!

I particularly liked how Bubbles was never a true villain in this piece, but driven by her desire to make Dave understand how much Dryden means to her, that she'd do anything to have him back, and that maybe Dave ought to push more to reconnect with Sarah.

One suggestion for this film may be to focus a little more on story elements that can hit more of that emotive heart - what happened between Dave and Sarah? Why is it he can't bring himself to call her? This part of the story could have pulled in a nice parallel with the relationship Bubbles and Dryden have, and how the subsequent unplugging of Dryden could be representative of what happened in Dave and Sarah's relationship.

Overall, this wee film had a lot of heart, and I'm excited to see what your team does next year! :)

A Helping Hand

Despite his protests, a boy reluctantly goes on a walk with his brother, which leads to fatal consequences.

This film looked so beautiful, and I'm devastated to see that you missed the deadline! The cinematography was absolutely stunning, everything felt clean, tight, and beautifully balanced. The edit was seamless, we just glided through the story effortlessly, all with a beautiful, haunting tone, which hit its mark all throughout, building that sense of reluctance, loneliness, and even a hint of dread foreshadowing what is to come!

My one suggestion for next year would be aligning with what our lovely city managers have already noted, this year's film is a tad light on story, and I would absolutely LOVE to see what this team can do with a stronger storyline. Honestly with this level of technical skill and a tight story you could make city finals next year easily!
Great work team!