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★★★★★
Directed by: Liam Hedrix Heath Starring: Tom Lincoln, Evelyn Miller, Alex Lowe, Patrick Durkan, Richard Ashton, and Vicky Butterfly Short Film Review by: Rachel Pullen
Being in charge must be tough, that’s why I enjoy living a life where I avoid as much responsibility as possible, this is not a lifestyle I recommend but you know I do what I want so it's swings and roundabouts...any way so imagine how stressful it must to be the king. Not only do you have to wear that super heavy crown and rich velvety robes even on a summer's day, but you have to sign bits of paper and make sure the people in your kingdom are happy...what a drag.
Nation Down has got this idea in the bag, we follow our king who is played by the very handsome and talented Tom Lincoln, who is getting a bit annoyed at all the people in his land protesting and standing up for themselves, how dare they, so he decides to take somewhat dramatic measures to ensure he can have a peaceful life.
So like a good king he could go about hearing out his people and can come to an agreement where they have their needs met and increase public morale, but nah...that’s too much hard work for our lazy king, using mind control from a 90’s television stored in his basement is a much stronger idea. Yet in a moment of weakness, a desire for human contact [prostitutes obviously] he throws his whole world order out the window as the people have the opportunity to seek revenge.
This short is instantly very visually stunning, beautiful sets and costumes spill from our screens, engulfing us in a world which balances between the medieval times and the modern age, an air of professionalism is apparent, this short is clearly well funded, thought out and has had a lot of care and love invested in to it.
But aside from the aesthetic values that Nation Down has to offer we cannot overlook the most important thing which is the musical score. Now, this film has very little dialogue so the music plays the role of narrator, building and crashing in all the right places, during scenes of revolution I found myself filled with anticipation directly influenced by the crescendo of the soundtrack, remember that time when no one thought Halloween was scary until John Carpenter put his score over the top? Nation Down demonstrates the value of a well timed musical moment.
This short feels like a cross between Metropolis, 1984 and V for Vendetta [ergh that film was the worst, yeah I said it] allowing the audience to reflect on how much of our lives we control, how much we should trust our government, which I believe to be the mark of a good movie, does it keep you thinking after its over? Well Nation Down certainly will.
Beautiful, well directed, acted and presented, Nation Down is a stimulating, politically-charged tale of corruption which anyone can enjoy, and I hope you do, for you would be the king's fool to miss it.
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