The film manages to conjure and maintain a suspenseful environment right from the beginning. Consequently, what could have otherwise been an inane conversation between a salesman and an annoyed potential customer gains a new meaning. As the story develops, it takes the viewer deeper with its exploration of the power of the human mind and the infinite control that resides within us all. All that the salesman is selling is a trick, one that allows you to solve whatever problem you are struggling with. He is deductive and is able to gauge the need and profession of his customer. However, can the trick truly help the latter?

The Big Trick | Short Film Nominee

The human mind is an endless abyss of all kinds of antics we may not entirely comprehend. The tip of the iceberg is one such issue called sleep paralysis which the short film explores. The story is of a couple where the man has been distanced and aloof from his concerned wife. As she goes down the path of helping him, with or without his complete knowledge, there is indeed a disturbingly unexpected development of events awaiting her. The audience too participates in her horror and shock, and therein lies the success of the narrative. The film, however, could have benefited from more polished performances. They would have further allowed it to supplement its story with significant contribution.

Sleep | Short Film Nominee

The narrative that RBD presents to the viewer is one of shadows and hidden dangers lurking in the darkness. As a woman makes her way back home from her workplace, an atmosphere of unease is invoked for the viewer. Reality bleeds into dreams, and vice-versa to make the protagonist, as well as the viewer, question what is the truth and what isn't. The woman's tribulations continue, conjuring a break-in by a malicious intruder into the house she inhabits alone. Violence and blood soon get interweaved with the plot. As events unfold one after another in quick successions, we get closer to finding the answer to all the questions raised so far which, in turn, also find an echo in the very title of the film itself.

RBD | Short Film Nominee

The first instalment of perhaps a longer series, the short film is simply a glimpse into one night when assumedly two siblings have gone to bed. The elder sister wakes up late into the darkness to find her brother missing. As she tries to bring him back to bed, there is indeed another sinister presence in the house waiting to be introduced to the viewer.

Hooked | Lockdown Film Challenge

A gory image of violence sets the story off, which first takes the viewer into a fairly opposite world. Away from shadows and darkness, this is a world of bright daylight where a character goes about his day with energy and enthusiasm. However, this verve is soon followed by a deeply disturbing image - a nightmare that blurs the line between reality and dream and threatens to rob him of his life. Thus begins a spiralling away of the brightness and cheer with which we had been given the first proper introduction to the protagonist. Stylistically, the film attempts sleekness and smoothness, retracing its steps back to the first disconcerting image it had opened with. There is also a conversation around overcoming your worst fears, as well as the isolation which is finally broken by perhaps something as simple as even a familiar voice of a loved one.

Hollow | Short Film Nominee

The narrative of the film aims to explore an aspect of sleep psychology called false awakening. Attempting an engagement with the same, the story delineates what it means to be in a dream within a dream. As lines between dream and reality get blurred, where will the protagonist find himself located amidst it all?

Deception | Lockdown Film Challenge

The film aims to create an atmosphere of horror for its viewer. A man wakes up from his sleep to find an unexpected, supernatural being present in his house. All of these occurrences will come to get tied with his sleep, dreams, nightmares and perhaps a more frightful reality than he could have been prepared for.

The Dream | Lockdown Film Challenge

The short film attempts a story complete with horror, mystery and supernatural elements. After being visibly disturbed from watching a scary movie, when the protagonist goes off to sleep, what unexpected, terrifying developments await him on the other side of it all?

Or Nadunisiyil | Lockdown Film Challenge

The film is a portrayal of one night when a man finds himself amidst strange developments. After preparing for bed and lying down, his sleep continues to remain disturbed. Soon the viewer is presented with a bewildering set of visuals that raise several possibilities - is it a story of astral projections, an out-of-body experience, parallel universes? Perhaps throw in a little time dilation as well and it would all come together? The narrative deliberately keeps itself open ended without spelling out its motivations, thereby demanding participation from the viewer. Would you then truly be able to follow the pace of everything that is unfolding before you?

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