Gates To Castle Yonder

I said this to you guys at the screening this evening, but I will say it again here:
I saw this pop up in the screening room and from the get go it looked like it was going to be great.... It did not disappoint!
This film is absolutely hilarious, and the final hook is such a hilariously satisfying ending!

The cinematography in this is very well done, and the acting is spot on for each character!

Huge step up from this team!! Great jokes throughout, supported by some of the strongest comic performances of the comp.

I love how out there things got; could have gone a little further - both in terms of comedy and narrative.
I would have loved to see the fabulous miniature return for the finale!

There are some minor technical things; the edit could be slightly tighter. The autofocus struggles with the low light scenes.
The camerawork feels pretty unmotivated at times too; a lot of static tripod shots.

This movie really pulled off a sense of fantasy whimsy that no other team could. So charming, such strong jokes! Great sound mix!

Oh my word what a film!

I was ready to groan. I thought you were going to go somewhere very tired and cliche with the two doors riddle which has been done to death in recent times. But instead you took it somewhere fresh with some brilliant comedy.

And suddenly the film is riffing on workplace politics and moralising about worker rights. Beautiful! I love it!

An impressive miniature for the opening shot, though we got only the briefest of glimpses.

I've only just realised that you used Sign of the Bellbird. What a clever location choice!

The crown was the perfect blend of shiny and flimsy. Got to love a crown that can reflect some light around the place.

I had an absolute blast with this! The story was fun and compelling, and the costuming and sets were really well put together! The acting was great, and the comedic timing worked super well! It was very fun to watch, and i got quite a kick out of the opening scene being filmed at the same location as my teams closing scene (bruces babysitters) and being screened directly afterwards in the heat, i thought that was fun

This was probably my favourite in the heat, just showing that an idea with some great characterisation and well constructed dialogue can take you a long way in 5 mins. The Python feel of the confusion and banter between the guards and then the little kicker wrap-up at the end gave this a real sense of constant story momentum. But overall it was super fun! Well done!

This was probably my favourite in the heat, just showing that an idea with some great characterisation and well constructed dialogue can take you a long way in 5 mins. The Python feel of the confusion and banter between the guards and then the little kicker wrap-up at the end gave this a real sense of constant story momentum. But overall it was super fun! Well done!

What a fun film. I am so biased to fun silly films in 48 but this one really stood out for me. It looked great, I appreciate the film wasn't just the whole two doors riddle. The film actually reminded me that I

Welp I pushed submit by mistake but long story short I'm going to join a union because of this film.

This had me giggling the whole way through. Love the Python-esque style of it all. More of your awesome miniature please!

This was definitely the right team to get fantasy as a genre. The commitment to props, wardrobe & location really shine; the only reason you'd recognise it's not actually the middle ages is the brilliant comedic performances. These guys also always have a way of taking a film somewhere you don't expect. Awesome job guys

Superb. From... "oh here we go again with this old gag" to immediately elevating the humour and bringing in some genuine fun and relatable moments. This film nailed it.
Pulling it all together with some absolutely timeless themes of the downtrodden workers just doing their job... I'll say no more.
Worth your time and worth your time to rewatch it:)

Great little films, great little switch up, and such a funny ending that only cactus can do! I never would have guessed the direction this was heading! Very Rick and Morty improv style by the end, but it works. Clearly you leaned into the fairytale aspect more than us, and for that ,my hat goes off to you. Biggest crit is that I want to see more of that miniature!! And I want you to also blow that miniature up!! Its SOOO GOOD!!!

There was a good chunk of time early on during our vetting process that this film was in our stop spot. We were gobsmacked by this. Definitely the best Cactus? story - maybe even the best Crab Crab Cactus? story too? We were absolutely blown away.

You’ve nailed one of the best uses of the genre this year. Fantasy can so easily tip into tired clichés, but instead you leaned into the silliness with wit, charm, and a storybook ending that felt deserved hahaha. Amazing locations and costume, great cinematography, and the performances across the board were excellent - charismatic, funny, consistent. Also that slow mo? Brilliant. As mentioned above, this whole thing had a Python-esque energy that kept it bouncing along with momentum, and the audience was right there with you.

What we also loved is that you didn’t tell the story of the king, the damsel or the mighty hero on the quest. You told the story of the everyday folk, the NPC, the workforce! And you made it matter. What an achievement!

I note that there aren’t too many criticisms from your fellow reviewers, which is a bit of a shame because we were hoping to get some insight from others on what you could do to improve, but it would appear you’re really firing on all cylinders!

Okay actually - here’s our critique. Loved the ending, but it was quite abrupt. In a world where you had 7 minutes to tell this story, would have been great to see more of the knight overcoming bigger obstacles, ones that really push the boundaries of his frustration with the workforce.

THE BEST THING: The sheer charm. Performances, humour, and genre all coming together in a beautiful way.

THE NEXT THING: I guess keep it up! only a matter of time before you land a genre and story that tickles the judges the right way and pushes you right to the tippy top - you were pretty close this year, so be encouraged!