Bardo

A short dark comedy fantasy film written and directed by Joshua Moulinie and starring Jackson Wright and Tash Morley.

The writer of this review would like to explain that (in Tibetan Buddhism) ''bardo'' is a state of existence between death and rebirth. This explanation is done with the intention of helping the reader understand the film's context. The story takes place in England and something extraordinary is taking place. A man named Frank (Wright) discovers that somehow some spiritual part of him has taken over the body of an unnamed young woman (Morley) and now there are 'two of them', two individuals that have different appearances but the same memories. Now, they must team up and find out what is going on.

The plot of this forty-minute long film is one of its strongest aspects: a sort of body swap story that involves a man having two versions of himself and one is a young woman. As they set off to solve the mystery, they end up in an unknown place that resembles an abandoned building and things get more and more bizarre from there, involving a masked entity dressed in black and a quote from Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. As Frank and his new friend go through their journey, the film alternates with scenes that show the woman sitting on a chair in a darkened location. There is mystery and there is plenty of cheeky and adult humour, mesmerising music, creative lighting techniques and the performances by Wright and Morley contribute massively in making this viewing enjoyable.

Would there be anything that could had been improved? As far as the screenplay goes, it is never dull and although the low-budget production is evident, it does not significantly affect the viewing experience.

As mentioned, the performences by the two leads are some of the strongest aspects of the film and that is because they are entertaining. Starting with Wright, his character is a man who apparently lives alone and drinks and smokes a lot. Morley's character is supposed to be the same character as Wright's (not physically that is), yet her character's personality seems to be different, more sceptical.

Self-reflection plays a big part in this story, which is quite evident as two people who have the same mind explain themselves to each other and therefore are actually opening up to themselves. The narrative also involves regrets and reminiscing the past.

Those who fancy a supernatural story with humour and also deep meanings should give this short a go. It is an odd and amusing journey with cheeky dialogue and an interesting plot.