The Robbery

A mugging is taking place at a petrol station.

Since this short has a duration of forty-five minutes, it would be hard to analyse it thoroughly without spoilers. A man (Fulmer) has the misfortune of being attacked by a masked criminal (Hine) outside a petrol station in broad daylight. The culprit is holding him at gunpoint, angrily demanding that he gives him his money. Then, the two of them notice something or someone that catches their complete attention, even making the gunman forget about the crime he is committing. After the victim runs away, the stunned crook is shot dead by an unknown person.

The writer of this review would like to take the opportunity to state that this is the first film that they are reviewing that involves the participation of prolific filmmaker Philip Brocklehurst without him being the director. This project also involves the contribution of two of Brocklehurst's frequent collaborators: Vladislav Nogin and Muhammad Holmatov.

Arguably, the highlight of this little crime thriller is the shooting. The gunman is standing with his back right next to a brick wall, staring at the unknown individual. Then a gunshot is heard and the criminal is shot through the chest before falling against the wall and gradually going down. This sequence consists of three shots and fast cutting. The first shows the man from his left side as the bullet enters his body, the second shows him from the front, from the waist up and gore splatters the wall behind him and the final shot has him slide down with his back against the wall. The whole scene looks fantastic thanks to the methodical editing by Brocklehurst, the tense score by Nogin and the practical effects by Bob Vresilovic and Hine.

Of course the death scene is not the only part that deserves recognition, as the mugging is quite tense and to some degree, humorous. The crook is holding a gun at the victim's face and demands his cash. Although this should be distressing, it is also funny due to the unrealistic acting, which is not a negative thing as it makes the scene amusing.

One thing that viewers will probably wonder was who killed the mugger? The shooter is never seen and they do not say anything, so the gender cannot be specified and it cannot be determined whether there is more than one. The purpose of this might be to leave the identity of the shooter to the viewer's imagination, like deciding what is in the case that the two suited gangsters are after in Pulp Fiction.

What is the moral of this story? Well, an obvious assumption would be that crime does not pay. That people who do bad deeds will get what is coming to them.

This is a gory crime thriller and it deserves commendations for the intriguing story, for the creativity that was put into the murder scene and for the message that it carries: people who turn to crime will suffer the consequences.