A few months back, I reviewed Split -
a short film by Andy Stewart, and was incredibly impressed. Now, he has
completed his planned trilogy of body-horror, The Reflections Trilogy, with Ink.
In Ink, we meet The
Man (Sam Hayman), an oddball loner with a tattoo obsession. There's nothing
particularly strange about that in this day and age. However, he is also
clearly disturbed. He satisfies his compulsion by removing body art from other
people's bodies; crudely stitching the pieces into his own derma. Naturally,
like any addiction, it's hard to stop...
Like Stewart's earlier shorts, Dysmorphia (2012) and Split (2014), Ink deals with an individual suffering
from an extreme form of mental illness. The characters are not monsters; but
they do monstrous things. Ink is the
first in which this manifests in harming others, however. Nevertheless, like
those earlier films, the feelings, emotions, and struggles are all very
relatable. Naturally, not to the extremes of the characters in the films, but
there's certainly an element of coveting that may be familiar to some.
Hayman is simply stunning as 'The Man'; creepy, disturbed
looking (think Jame Gumb crossed with Jason Mewes), and particularly when in
physical pain, very believable. There's very little dialogue, but you are drawn
into this man's world easily, and the use of a very unconventional sound design
is intentionally disorientating and even confusing at first, but becomes fully
immersive, and often nearly as disturbing as the visuals.
Once again, we're faced with some graphic body horror. It's
an immense compliment to Stewart and his effects team, Grant Mason, Deirdre
Flanigan and Lizz Wayt, that I will admit to squirming at least once (and maybe
even twice) during the course of the twenty-minute film. The work that they did
on such a small budget is amazing, and is certainly painful to watch! Naturally,
it would be wrong for me to reveal too much about it, it certainly benefits
from being seen cold, but it's a stunning, if disturbing, piece of art.
There's a large portion of the film based in The Man's flat,
lit only by the beams of sunlight streaming through the ragged curtains, and as
such is rather dark in places. It's a testament to the cinematographer, Alan
McLaughlin, that it looks as good as it does with such a difficult shooting
situation; the natural light is used brilliantly. I imagine it would certainly
look even better seeing this on the big screen. Which hopefully, you'll get a
chance to do come the next round of film festivals. If it's playing somewhere
you are at, do not hesitate to check it out.
9 out of 10
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