Being a video that has been in my subconscious for years now, I was surprised to learn that this short film has a page on this website. Still Life is not so much a creepy film as it is unusual, although the way it ends is pretty disturbing. The plot in this follows a guy (named Nathan in the credits) who is driving while taking pills and coffee. He eventually drives into a small town and hits something. Exiting his car, he finds it to be a mannequin. He tries to yell to someone on a bench to come help, but finds they're also a mannequin. Going into a diner, he finds the exact same thing. Strangely, all the "people" in the diner have their eyes on him, but only move their heads when his back is turned. Nathan attempts to restart his car but finds he's out of gas. Meanwhile, an ambulance is already outside for the mannequin he hit. Mannequins all around Nathan seem to glare angrily at him as he walks down the street, whether they're in their front yards, on a patio, or on the sidewalk. He soon comes to a house and goes inside in order to escape what sounds like police sirens in the distance. Inside, he finds a female mannequin, a male one, and a child mannequin. When Nathan looks behind him, he sees one of the mannequins is suddenly holding a bat. Knowing he'll probably die if he takes his eyes off him, Nathan takes the bat and proceeds to smash all 3 of the mannequins to pieces. Going upstairs to get ahold of himself and try to understand what he just witnessed, Nathan looks into the bathroom mirror, and finds to his horror his face is covered in blood. Two cops break into the house and arrest Nathan. As he's led outside, he looks at the corpses of the innocent family he killed for no reason other than being paranoid. Basically akin to a modern Twilight Zone installment, Still Life tells an interesting but macabre story of something that is entirely feasible in reality, and even has a bit of a moral lesson in it. The short can almost be viewed as an anti drug movie due to how it shows the main character's perception of real life being skewed after he's seen taking pills in the beginning. Because you're seeing the story happen from his perspective, there's a big sense of confusion in regards to what is going on in this town where all the residents are inanimate objects that only move when you aren't looking. It might seem not that important, but the decision to make the film take place in the winter was a smart move. It's almost like the inhabitants of the town are doing all they can to get Nathan to go away by starving it of light, warmth and everything good. The twist at the end is deeply ironic considering you're just as clueless about what's happening throughout the film as Nathan is up until this point. When he finally realizes what he's done, he knows he's the danger to everyone else. Previously, he thought everyone in the town was dangerous to him. Things are not always what they appear to be.
Review of Still Life
