A really funny, amazing, original short film. Quite enjoyable, so wonderfully acted. In its own comedic way, the film puts forth clearly it's underlying message pertaining to woman servitude (in patriarchal society) and weird yet entertaining take on women-empowerment.
Loveddd it!!!
4 Reviews
Venus in Furs
southdavid11 November 2022
Hidden amongst the classic cartoons, on Disney Plus' 'Shorts' film section was this distinctly not child friendly comedy short film, which has some good moments, though perhaps is missing a bit more catharsis in the . . . . "happy ending".
Valerie (Jane Guernier) is the long-suffering wife of boorish Vicar Norman (Paul Hunter). One day, whilst cleaning a statue of the Virgin Mary, she cuts her hand. From then on, the hand begins to take on a life of its own. Initially just curious, the hand soon decides that what Valerie needs is less Norman and tries to kill him in his sleep. Valerie threatens the hand with an extreme solution if this continues, then the hand finds another way to improve Valerie's life.
There are some "Evil Dead 2" vibes with the possessed hand scenes that I enjoyed and the performances in this are very good. Jane Guernier in particular is very game for what is to come in the short. I just wish there was a beat or two more beyond the euphemistic resolution that we get, to show that Valerie's life has genuinely improved.
I've not seen either of Sarah Clift's other shorts, but, based on this I'd look forward to a feature from her.
Valerie (Jane Guernier) is the long-suffering wife of boorish Vicar Norman (Paul Hunter). One day, whilst cleaning a statue of the Virgin Mary, she cuts her hand. From then on, the hand begins to take on a life of its own. Initially just curious, the hand soon decides that what Valerie needs is less Norman and tries to kill him in his sleep. Valerie threatens the hand with an extreme solution if this continues, then the hand finds another way to improve Valerie's life.
There are some "Evil Dead 2" vibes with the possessed hand scenes that I enjoyed and the performances in this are very good. Jane Guernier in particular is very game for what is to come in the short. I just wish there was a beat or two more beyond the euphemistic resolution that we get, to show that Valerie's life has genuinely improved.
I've not seen either of Sarah Clift's other shorts, but, based on this I'd look forward to a feature from her.
I didn't get it, nor found it funny.
MovieGeekBlog23 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A rather frustrated, lonely and long suffering vicar's wife suffers a little accident which cleaning a statue of the Virgin Mary as a result of that her had becomes "possessed" for lack of a better term and begins to have a life of its own, with strange and supposedly funny consequences. Well, I have to say, not only I did not laugh once (the timing of the comedy seems to be off most of the time and every single scene goes on for twice as long as it should), but also the filming of it seemed to be very student-like and quite pedestrian.
And finally the whole scene of the discovery of "self pleasuring in the bath" has already been done in a very similar way in "Pleasantville" and even there it seemed to be out of keeping with the rest of the film.
Very disappointing.
Hilarious and beautifully made
pzabrodskaya28 February 2021
I saw a trailer and then rented the entire selection of Lift-Off Film Festivals on Vimeo just to watch this short. It was worth it! Fresh, entertaining and beautifully made. The actors are amazing, too. I've never heard of Sarah Clift before, so googled her other work and discovered that she's a heavily awarded young director. Of course she is, she's brilliant. Can't wait for her first feature.
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