Apocalypse Now Now: It’s a Live Wire

Be prepared to discover your new favourite short film.

Or maybe your least.

It does have mixed opinions.

But if, like me, you enjoy your shorts to be weird, eccentric, twisted, grimy, and a little bit vulgar, then give it a watch.

I promise you won’t be disappointed.

It’s high powered, super charged short film that will either give you a buzz or make you blow a fuse.

Ok, I’ll stop thinking of electricity puns now, but seriously, this film is- for lack of a more sophisticated word- badass!

It’s based on the novel series of the same name by Charlie Human and directed by Michael Matthews. It follows a simple, but well told narrative following sarcastic, deadpan teen Baxtor Zevcenko (Garion Dowds), who’s girlfriend was just killed.  And he’s the number one suspect.

So, naturally, he teams up with supernatural bounty hunter ‘Jackie-fucking-Ronin’ (Louw Venter) to clear his name.  Together they drive deep into dusty outback of Cape Town to come face to face with the real monsters.

-Cue impressive VFX-

It’s been described as ‘Neil Gaiman meets Tarantino’ and I would have to agree. Imagine if Nicolas Refn had directed Stranger Things.

In just short seven minutes we’re transferred to an apocalyptic setting; a place very different from our own but no less believable.

The characters are instantly likeable, understandable and interesting.  They even managed to have a voice over without it being cliched! It explained the character’s situation without ‘being on the nose’, or obvious exposition.

This moved the narrative along in the most effective way; and combined with the visuals that foreshadow the ending, it adds depth and intrigue.

The music, composed by James Matthes, also blows the film to feature level, scaling it up to epic proportions. It’s big, it’s dramatic, and it’s just another reason I was instantly enthralled.

So, go watch this film, Sparky!