Ever take a long road trip and start to get a little, how shall we say, wacky? That’s par for the course with me in the car (I’ve been told between the bags of Twizzlers and the alphabet version of the picnic game, I’m a lot of fun). There is, however, a downside to a long trip: the exhaustion and need for company, especially if you’re going solo. Still Life, a 2006 offering from Jon Knautz, gives us exactly what could go wrong if you’re stuck in a car by yourself. Check it out for yourself:

This one was surreal in a good way. I liked the angle of using mannequins as spectators – that one sums up how many individuals would rather stand around and stare rather than engage in an active life. Worse yet, this manages to say something about the level of involvement most people have with dangerous conflict: many would freeze as opposed to help. Points for that commentary, and really, I dare you to take a look at how you’d behave in a similar situation. I also dug the use of light percussion as music; it was minimal, but added a lot in terms of mood. The ending fell right in line with where I thought it was headed, but again, the execution made the difference. As soon as our nameless protagonist (or is it antagonist at this point?) grabbed the bat, I knew where it was going, though I’m really thankful that I didn’t have to see a bashed-in baby. Where this really worked, though, is Knautz’s direction: it felt like I was coming out of a haze, which fit with the pill-popping at the beginning of the film. There was clear tone there, and it felt wobbly and disoriented in a good way. It worked to enhance, not detract.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Happy Saturday!