Pilferage Short Film Review

★★★

Directed by: #MorganOCallaghan

Starring: #JoeSambrook, #AdamBrown, #ZanderODonovan

Short Film Review by: Alexandra James

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Pilferage follows a thief on a mission…however, we are not entirely sure what the mission is, and neither does he. This film is an entertaining piece directed by Morgan O’Callaghan for a University project. Of course, when it comes to work created by students there are some teething issues which can be ironed out, but this comes with experience and time. Pilferage was witty and the narrative was an interesting concept, it would be great to see this develop into a feature length film as the audience are left on an extremely climactic ending but that sometimes is the best place to be because we are hungry for more!

There were some definite cheesy lines, but I can admit they did make me chuckle, this is a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There were echoes of the film Snatch, a gritty yet funny Guy Ritchie classic which combines the hard attitude of London and quick cockney wit. The background music within Pilferage reflected Ritchie’s style it was upbeat and edgy and lifted the scene, it can be considered mismatched, but it provided a different tone to the piece and set this short film up as comedic and light-hearted. Moreover, the running commentary from our protagonist as he takes us back in time is very Ritche-esque style as our main character takes us on a journey as to how he ended up in this crazy scenario. Of course, the humour was a tad corny but that did not hinder the narrative in the slightest. Although immature, I still found it funny and believed that it helped the story and made for a very entertaining short.

There are some drawbacks to the piece but for a university project this can be overlooked. However, it is always good to recognise them so that you can improve and develop on this further. The sound had some issues which made it sometimes difficult to hear the dialogue, but this can easily be rectified. The storyline itself could have had a little more detail, it seemed rushed in places. The element of ambiguity is a key component, however, for a short film where the ending is not revealed and left at a climax, it is important to make sure the audience remain engaged and reveal a few features so that we can interpret the finale ourselves.

Pilferage is one that tantalises and intrigues the audience, it would be great to see the students who created this short develop this story further and let their imagination explore the variety of possibilities for the ending.