‘Canary’ Short Film Review
Stars: Barron Leung, Kiyoshi Shishido, Matthew Mitchell Espinosa, Thaddeus Newman, Andrew Hayden Kang | Written by Jasper Chen | Directed by Taka Tsubota
Forced to stay inside a cabin, Alan (Barron Leung) finds himself victimised by the other boys also there. Despite the horrific atmosphere within, there appears to be no other option when an apocalyptic landscape of monsters lies outside the door. It leaves Alan to question which monsters he would rather face.
A flashback shows how instantly the bullying begins before Alan is defended by his cousin, George (Kiyoshi Shishido), although that help is notably missing from the present-day scenes. As the cousin ventured outside in search of help, Alan is left with visible wounds on him. Despite trying to hold onto his humanity, he is outnumbered by others who have embraced barbarity.
Director Taka Tsubota uses the 18-minute runtime to capture the cabin’s suffocating nature, courtesy of the toxic atmosphere perpetuated by insecure guys trying to control something. Their release from the horrific reality includes feeding their ego, be it through physical intimidation or hypothetical scenarios. When one cooly refers to possible cannibalism as “eat or be eaten,” the words mask hopelessness while carrying the gravitas of playground exaggeration.
While the horrors inside are captured on-screen, what lurks outside is given the opposite treatment. The everyday terror inside is well conveyed by the performers, while it is up to the audience’s imagination to convey the larger-than-life terror that lies outdoors. Will Alan give in to what the others have already embraced? It may be familiar territory, yet it is effectively captured.
