Within the nightly trauma of a recurring nightmare Karen (Marion Kerr) experiences her husband Sam (Ross Marquand) trying to kill her. As time progresses the attacks become increasingly detailed until Karen struggles to distinguish between waking and sleeping. Lucid is an interesting short film from director Kevin K. Shah that promises much more than it delivers.
There is an uncomfortable ambiguity that develops in the opening few moments through clever direction that, while returning to this theme later in the film, dissipates as more of the characters personalities are revealed. The initial scene setting is so impressive that it feels unnecessary to elaborate and something of the oppressive atmosphere is lost as time progresses.
As the subconscious attacks intensify the film begins to lose a little of its own intensity and cleverly constructed creepiness and that is a shame. What is evident though is the style with which Shah controls the camera. There is a confidence more fitting to a more experienced feature director and if he can match a script with this talent for minimalist expression then he will surely be a talent to watch.
OVERALL SUMMARY
It is often impossible to difficult to judge a short film and thusly the persons involved. The performances in Lucid however are excellent, the filmmaking itself to be admired, but there is an element missing; a shock value that is so often necessary for a short film to have the appropriate impact. There is possibly too much ambiguity inherent in Lucid, and while it may look beautiful, it doesn’t linger long in the memory.
