Dystopia St.: Written Review

Hi everyone and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, the show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions, and today I’d like to talk to you about 2011’s short fantasy horror, Dystopia St., which is actually part of a the 2016 feature Anthology, The Void.

Dystopia St. was directed by UK based indie Filmmaker, David Cave. Thank you, David for sending us your film.

The story follows Danny Shayler who is portraying a young man trapped in a nightmare, detached from reality. He is introduced to us in a grimy apartment, where he desperately tries keep hold of a mysterious key which he is told will lead him to “The Answer”. Distracted by other characters, portrayed by Shaun Lavery and Freya Parker, the man goes through some disturbing experiences on his quest to find this answer.

This film gives a weird, unsettling experience. In most films there are two major components happening at the same time. The first one is the narrative itself, the story on the screen. The second one is the statement the filmmaker is trying to say through the film as a whole. In better films, this statement will be buried deep in subtext, for you, the viewer, to decipher. That’s exactly the case with Dystopia St. As the narrative, on the surface, makes no sense, the only thing left is to decipher that statement, or more like, the challenge in trying to do so.

That’s what I love most about the film. Its run-time is just under 11 minutes, but it will stay with you long after you’re done watching it.

The film was screened at over 140 film festivals worldwide, and won 17 awards.

It feels like Cave aimed for an elusive meaning. You could even say that the film is open to interpretation from beginning to end.

I can’t really talk about my interpretation of it for fear of spoiling. I can only say that I very much enjoyed being frustrated, trying to figure out the meaning of this great short film.

To sum up, If you like films that make you want to re-watch them again and again, just so you could put you mind at ease on what the hell you just witnessed, then I highly recommend you track this down.

Dystopia St. can currently be found on AngerMan Distribution’s list and streamed via VOD as part of OUTSIDE THE BOX: THE DAVID CAVE COLLECTION, HERE.

Dystopia St. gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m a Film Critic scale.

Go check out the film on the link above or you can purchase it on The Void Anthology, available on Amazon.

Until next time, keep supporting Indie Film. My name is Asaf Angel, and thank you for tuning in to MyIndie Review Vlog.