Dawn of the Deaf (2016) User Reviews

Doesn't need the title reference, a solid work on its own

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 20 August 2017]

"Dawn of the Deaf" is a British 12-minute live action short film from last year and among the most known works from writer and director Rob Savage. If you read the title, then you will make an immediate connection to a really famous film, but honestly this one here has very little to do with the title. Yes there is an apocalyptic scenario in here, but well, I personally did not find it half as essential for the film as it was for the characters in the film. It makes for an awkwardly funny kissing scene at the very end and that's it. I guess they went with the title because it makes it easier to promote the film. Or they had the title and built the film around it? Would be a bit of a strange approach. Everything before that is solid, sometimes weaker, sometimes better. My favorite part of the film are the moments when we only see subtitles for those moments in the conversation between the two girls when we also see their hands. This was done really smart I guess, also from the position of an actually deaf person. At the very beginning, the movie needed a moment or two to get going and get me interested, but eventually Savage succeeded. Thumbs up for this one and also for all the stunning ladies in here. Go check it out.

Despite its title, it definitely isn't a comedy.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 7/10 · 28 June 2023]

You'd think that with a title like 'Dawn Of The Deaf (2016)', the picture would be a comedic spoof of the zombie genre. That's not what it is, though. It's actually a pretty grim drama that depicts the moments leading up to a cataclysmic event through the eyes of four deaf people. The storylines play out in tandem, the piece cutting between them as its in-world doomsday clock ticks ever closer to midnight. The stories increase in intensity until they crescendo in a unifying moment of disaster that essentially serves as the inciting incident for a much wider narrative. That narrative is clearly what the director is interested in telling, as the short very much feels like a pilot for a much larger affair. To that end, it seems ever-so-slightly inconsequential. Yet, it's still an entertaining and effective experience in its own right. One of its storylines is incredibly uncomfortable (and I'm not sure if it's entirely necessary), while the others are much less intense and don't strictly suggest that the short is - or, at least, is leading towards - a horror film. Again, that's not an inherently bad thing. Ultimately, this is an engaging and well-made effort throughout. I'd be interested to see its concept explored further, and that might be happening sometime soon given Rob Savage's current career trajectory.

warning

[Kirpianuscus · 10 December 2018]

I saw this film from the perspective of my low sense of hearing. So, as part of a minority, it is easy to discover this short film as a realistic portrait of isolation and refuge , not ignoring the love story. Other virtue - it reminds many films about same subject. But it does that in wise manner, using references for a solid portrait of crisis, sufferance , choice and a phenomenon changing lives. It could be, in same measure, a parable, about loneliness and about humankind. Important - it works in lovely manner. So, a profound inspired warning.

A snap-shot of a film perhaps, but an engaging one (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 1 July 2017]

Recently I watched Train to Busan, which is essentially a standard zombie movie, but does well to produce some characters in a way that makes us invest in their plight, as opposed to simply reveling in gore. This short film I watched some days later, and although it has its limits, it does a very similar thing by laying out characters we engage with. In this case the focus is on 4 deaf characters, in 3 different scenarios, all leading up to something referred to as 'the pulse'. The film doesn't allude to what is coming, and while I tag this with spoilers, the reference of the title should make it pretty clear.

The film engages in some good ways; the two most obvious are the creeping tone of the girl and her parent, while the two partners includes some nice visual touches such as us losing sight of the subtitles when we lose sight of the characters' hands as we move around them. The base is interesting, and it is a shame when the film kicks into genre mode before immediately ending. In some ways, as a short film, this is a good thing, because there is too much here to try to expand that in a 15 minute short film, but after it doing such a good job to engage, it is a bit jarring how suddenly it ends (even though it is also a good thing).

How it would play developed into a feature will be interesting to see (like a deaf Day of the Triffids), and there is enough good stuff within this short to make me interested to see what they can do with more.