Meth

The short METH, written and directed by Michael Maney and starring Stephanie Brait is a great example of telling a compelling story in limited timeframe. With great visuals (and believable CGI that Hollywood should take notice of) and even better story, METH is a tour-de-force of short filmmaking.

Stephanie Brait’s character Nikki is a Meth addict. She narrates her spiral down into drug addiction for us while at the same time educating us on the ways and means of how she acquires her drug of choice, the effects that it has on her body and mind, and how it has affected her life and her relationships with those around her. All this is conveyed in the first five minutes of the movie, and she narrates it with a tongue-in-cheek wit and spot-on humor. The supporting characters in this film play their roles great as well, with the character of the mannequin (voiced by Robert Pavlovich) being the standout. This discarded mannequin that Nikki finds comes alive and starts instructing her to kill someone at a specific time, at a predetermined place. The ending is also a real surprise that is partially hinted at throughout the movie but really pays off in the closing couple minutes.

The film is shot as a series of alternating takes, going from Nikki’s often hallucinogenic point of view to the standard storytelling cinema style. The director of photography Ryan Lewis doesn’t take too many chances camera-wise, but conveys the story clearly and gives the audience an easy entrance to the flick from frame one. The CGI integration is flawless and the character interaction with the mannequin is wholly believable. The only gripe about the look of the film comes from a couple depth-of-field blurry shots that really seem unnecessary. The editing is solid, and the soundtrack and effects are well integrated.