Tag: Film Review

Awards Season, BAFTA, Film Review, Films, Live action short, Oscars, Short Film

FILM BUSINESS 2026 OSCAR CONTENDER SERIES – Jack Howard’s The Second Time Around: An Oscar-Qualified Short That Lingers Long After It Ends

By Jane Fitzgerald With The Second Time Around, filmmaker Jack Howard makes a strikingly confident leap from comedy into dramatic territory, crafting a short that feels both intimate and cinematic in scope. Already Oscar and BAFTA qualified, and a recent Best Sci-Fi winner at HollyShorts, the film arrives with real awards momentum, and deservedly so. Set on a rain-drenched London night, the story pairs rising British star Hannah … Continue reading FILM BUSINESS 2026 OSCAR CONTENDER SERIES – Jack Howard’s The Second Time Around: An Oscar-Qualified Short That Lingers Long After It Ends

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Film Festivals, Film Review, Films, HollyShorts Film Festival, Live action short, Short Film

REVIEW: Where Beauty Turns to Dread: The Haunting Power of SKIN

In SKIN, writer-director Urvashi Pathania delivers a haunting, emotionally resonant short that cuts deep into the psychological toll of colorism and the pursuit of self-worth. Following its world premiere at Fantasia, the film makes a striking US debut at the 2025 HollyShorts Film Festival, standing out as a searing blend of genre and cultural critique. The story follows a young Indian American woman who accompanies … Continue reading REVIEW: Where Beauty Turns to Dread: The Haunting Power of SKIN

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Film Festivals, Film Review, Films, HollyShorts Film Festival, Live action short, Short Film

REVIEW: In the Quiet Corners of Childhood: RECESSES Confronts the Pain We Can’t See

Dylan Trupiano’s Recesses is a profoundly moving short film that offers a poignant and intricately layered exploration of hidden childhood trauma, delicately navigating the complex intersection of pain and repression. The story centers on Sherry (Solia Cates), a compassionate school secretary who stays behind with Bailey (Charles John Wilson), a young student disciplined for creating an “inappropriate” drawing. As their time together unfolds within the … Continue reading REVIEW: In the Quiet Corners of Childhood: RECESSES Confronts the Pain We Can’t See

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21st Anniversary, Female Director, Film Festivals, Film Review, HollyShorts Film Festival, Live action short

REVIEW: Mahnoor Euceph’s 11:11 Turns a Teen Wish Into a Sharp Reckoning With Assimilation

Premiering at the 2025 Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, 11:11 marks a striking new entry in the canon of diasporic coming-of-age cinema, one that dares to blend teen wish-fulfillment fantasy with the painful realities of assimilation and internalized identity loss. With sharp humor, an audacious high-concept premise, and a clear directorial voice, Mahnoor Euceph crafts a short that is as entertaining as it is quietly devastating. At the center of 11:11 is Noori, … Continue reading REVIEW: Mahnoor Euceph’s 11:11 Turns a Teen Wish Into a Sharp Reckoning With Assimilation

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Female Director, Film Review, HollyShorts Film Festival, Live action short

REVIEW: Meron Alon’s TOO GOOD Is a Divine Comedy With a Sharp Edge

Premiering at the Oscar-qualifying 21st HollyShorts Film Festival, TOO GOOD arrives amid a lineup of films steeped in moral reflection, but Meron Alon dares to ask the biggest questions with a grin, then answers them with a gut punch. Anchored by two powerhouse performances from Jean Smart and Lil Rel Howery, this darkly comic, unexpectedly soulful short turns the afterlife into a cosmic interrogation room where judgment is personal, … Continue reading REVIEW: Meron Alon’s TOO GOOD Is a Divine Comedy With a Sharp Edge

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