Final copy of the review

This is the final copy of the review, all that's left to do is to insert this text into the Little White Lies template that we created earlier.


Whilst Michael Bay is off planning his new film, Pain and Gain with his smallest budget yet, amateur directors Dani Hubbard and Charlie Smith are revelling in the success of their first short film. Capturing the suspense of a thriller in what appears to be a normal day, as it focuses on the routine of a teen girl.

Hubbard and Smith’s character driven piece targets the teen audience with a sense of familiarity.  As what starts out as a normal day for the character turns out far different from what she expected. With a dark sinister twist that as you may have guessed, you have to watch it to make sense of it. Little White Lies as an organisation do not take too kindly to spoilers, so we strongly recommend that you go and see this film for yourself if you want to experience the big ‘Surprise.’

The most crucial aspect of the character’s day is when we first meet the other character; a key moment in the film that takes the audience from a day like any other to the disruption. The use of enigma to hide the identity of the mystery character works well and really helps build tension; point for the directors there. Another key moment, and probably the most important was executed poorly by the main actor, she lacks expression, making it hard for the audience to empathise with the character emotion. Due to the fact that we never actually see the surprise on screen, her facial expression at this moment was crucial in the making of the film.

Although the film appears to have been a reasonable success so far, however it is clear throughout that the actor has minimal acting experience and this is evident in a couple of shots. She shows no real emotion throughout the film, and your right it isn’t really necessary when half the film is of her walking down the street. Yet there is one key moment when the use of facial expression needs to be executed perfectly to make sure the ending is not anti-climactic. Perhaps a bold strategy that wasn’t performed in the right way, may not have worked to their advantage this time: but better luck next time.

So we go from the casual walking down the street, and driving around for the majority of the film to the quick surprise at the end which is over far too quickly; it is a shame that most of the film focuses too much on the build-up. Seeing as the film title is called ‘Surprise,’ you would expect more focus on that aspect of the film, however although not overly successful, it shows a sophisticated understanding of film and makes for a good first outing for these directors.