Hiccupocalypse

Arneth Murania take a bow this is some of the absolutely best lighting I have ever seen in a 48 hours film. Cooking from frame one in the bathroom until the last frame, Glowtime have delivered a seriously polished film for the comp this year, where things go from bad to worse with a very clever deadly interruption.

Seriously I'm sitting here and marveling at how you distinctly captured the side lighting glow of a bathroom mirror and pushed the brightness of the frame, and then nailed that brighter warmer intimate bar feeling once our lead was back at the table. The hues looked so good! This might sound like I'm waxing lyrical about some regular film lighting, but it just really elevated proceedings for me.

The general conceit of the film works well for a comedy of errors film; nerves and anxiety displayed through a terrific performance from Ollie Madsen who conveys these emotions with the speech rehearsal into the mirror to kick off proceedings and immediately presents 2 interesting dramatic questions. 1. will he build up the 'courage' to dump the unsuspecting partner. and 2. does she deserve to be dumped?

Now it takes a deft hand to bring balance to serious propositions with comedy and let awkward situations speak for themselves, but Anna Brajkovich and Harry Matheson do exactly that, keeping the action focused on our 2 lovers on the brink as the apocalypse related to the title unfolds.

I think it was a really clever decision to have the gallows humour unfold largely in the background, as numbers dwindle giving a genuine end of the world air to proceedings. In many ways it reminded me of the final scenes of my favourite film of all time MIRACLE MILE.

Sound by the way was absolutely immaculate, it made for a very smooth ride of a film that didn't muck around and told a brilliant tight little story.

My only 2 personal areas where I thought the film could have potentially been elevated even higher may have been a stronger angle or 2 as the impactful action unfolded. And for me personally I think the ending was reasonably obvious from early on. But that's personal nitpicking and I think the film was excellent. Great work Glowtime!

I'm always excited to see what Glowtime brings each year. This one doesn't disappoint. It's a real lesson in not trying to overcomplicate your story. This movie has a deceptively simple (if utterly bizarre) central premise delivered exceptionally well. In focus is the troubled couple, while the weirdness escalates in the corner of your vision. Impeccable pacing and excellent acting. Thank you for another cracker, Glowtime!