Strange Beasts (2017) Reviews

• An effective mini-Black Mirror with great visual effects

  bob the moo2017-03-29

  Like everyone else, I'll just jump in and state that this is like a small version of a Black Mirror story, since this seems to be the touchstone for any sci-fi plot that looks at the impact of technology. The plot here is about AR gaming, which most city/town centers will already show you we have, as school kids and older wander round looking at their phones hunting Pokémon. In this instance the technology is contact lenses that allow the pets you design to exist directly in your perceived vision, not just via your phone's camera. The film does a good job to keep us in the moment, so we are not rushing ahead thinking about where it is going. We get to see things of interest in the main character; the infomercial style starts well, and leads into more of a reality of isolation that connects well with the modern experience (lying on the sofa alone, swiping around on the screen) but extends it so it is highlighted as an absurdity and a little tragic. This is extended well, and the conclusion to the film has more impact because of how well the film has kept us close to our current reality. The visual effects are also very good – technically impressive, but better for being a supporting role in the film and not the whole show.

• What a short should be

  Snootz2018-01-29

  In contrast to most shorts... this has a story, climax and excellent ending. That is the foundation of any film, and this does not disappoint. I'll not re-state the premise / summary, but will point out two (non-spoiler) fun things: they hand you a red herring and then pull a totally unexpected shift. That's skilled writing and makes this short a lot of fun. The CGI is well-done, acting acceptable and believable, story consistent. They leave a couple of questions hanging but those questions are not essential to the plot line. Professionally done all the way through and well worth watching. I give it 8 stars because it's a fun, excellently-crafted short, but not amazing. If it has any flaw, it's that it's a short. If they'd have made it longer they could have added significantly more plot element and maybe turned this into awesome. But it makes perfect use of the time allotted. Well worth watching.

• For 5 minutes, it's fine indeed

  Horst_In_Translation2018-02-10

  "Strange Beasts" is a British 5-minute live action film that can be called a mockumentary. This one was released back in spring 2017, so it is almost a year old, probably much more when you are reading this review. Writer and director is Magali Barbe and in this one we got a male character presenting us the newest in pet technology and this surely takes tamagotchi to the next lewvel, the virtual reality level in fact. The film competently walks the fine line between us saying "oh what a cute animal" and us thinking "now that is weird", especially when at the end we basically have a daughter animal and the protagonist we see looks to us as if he was insane speaking to non-existing characters. Well guess what? He is. So there is a bit anti virtual reality message in here and a pro real reality message. I think the switching between what he sees and how others see him was handled pretty competently here and you can easily see that Barbe is really experienced. It may be her(?) first effort as writer and director, but she has worked in the visual effects department already on a few really famous blockbuster movies already. This one we got here is a really good rookie effort and a fairly interesting watch that offers really nice effects work, but also an interesting plot. I recommend checking it out.