The Thinning Veil [2019]
Lake Horror Review
by Scott Lake
“They say that on Halloween, the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and that if you try hard enough you can speak to the dead. But Roberta should be careful that the dead won’t want to speak back.”
I settled in for a quick viewing experience of a short film from MyCho Entertainment, titled The Thinning Veil. This award-winning 10-minute short is set on Halloween night. With that, a little history for you… Halloween is known by many other names, such as All-Saint’s Day, All-Hallows or more popularly, Samhain. It is said that during this time of the year, the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead, is at its thinnest, allowing for people to see, or even in some cases, commune with the dearly (or not so dearly) departed. On to our story…
Young Roberta (Tatiana Ibba) has sought out the help of someone who can get her in contact with a person who has passed on. Her search has brought her to Tarot Card reading Madam Brenda (Liza Keast), who gives her a similar explanation to the one mentioned above, as to why Halloween is the best time to communicate with the other side. The question is, does she get the answers she seeks? Only one way for you good folks to find out.
I gave this short a couple of watches because on the first viewing, the ending left me scratching my head; but in a good way. The second viewing put everything together which I missed on my initial viewing. I love it when a film does not spoon feed you all the information and leaves you to interpret certain details on your own. It really is a fun watch, and I suggest multiple viewings to get everything. I know I’ll be going back and watching again.
The Thinning Veil was written and directed by the talented MJ Dixon. Ibba and Keast grace the lead roles. Their performances were so good that I got lost in these characters in the short time we have with them.
The score, composed by Dixon, adds an awesome atmosphere. A score can make or break a film, and this one definitely enhances it. Makeup Effects were helmed by Luna Wolf. I personally will be looking for more of her handiwork in the future as well. I didn’t see it listed anywhere, but the lighting work in the film deserves to be mentioned. It absolutely makes the scenes stand out all on their own, so whoever was behind that, well done!
Additionally, Dixon not only wrote, directed and scored this, but also was the person behind the camera, and his cinematography is excellent. There are certainly some beautiful shots in this short, but that’s just another of many reasons for you to give this gem a watch or ten. The festival success this film experienced was definitely much deserved.
Do yourselves a favor. 8/10.
