Short Film: Erebus (2024)

What Happens

A forensic scientist is awakened in the middle of the night by the chief investigator; there’s something strange going on in an apartment building where radiation has been detected. Not only that, but people have gone missing. The scientist and the investigator seem to have some kind of bad history, and they do nothing but argue until he fires her. That may not be the end of her investigation, though…

Commentary

It’s well-filmed and looks good. The problem here is a little hard to pin down. It seems to be either acting, dialogue, and possibly direction, but more likely a perfect storm of all three. None of the characters’ behavior or dialogue seems even remotely professional or believable, and none of them are likeable. Granted, real cops aren’t always as calm and competent as the ones on CSI, but anyone who acted like this wouldn’t get far at all in the real world. 

The mystery is interesting, but we don’t get a lot of that. We don’t get any explanation, and we don’t actually even see what happens to the main character at the end. 

It’s a student film, so I hope they got a good grade, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it.