Critically Acclaimed

Directed by Thomas Loone

2022

Birmingham-born actor Thomas Loone delves into the world of guilt and imposter syndrome with his very first short film Critically Acclaimed.

Throwing the audience directly into the story we see a Scottish man exchanging heated words with a grimy-looking hobo called John (Chris Johnson) asking him what he has done.

On the discovery that someone has been killed, a discussion between the two occurs about what they can do. Make it look like an accident? Run away? Confess?

Well, the film pulls a quick one and reveals that this fiery moment we have just watched is in fact a scene from a movie starring a young West Midlands actor called Michael Runner (director-actor Loone himself). The transition leads us directly into an interview with a TV presenter (Mia Mills) who is conversing with Michael as part of the film’s press junket.

A pause comes in the interview when his agent Tony (Charles O’Neill) pulls him aside to remind him to promote the film better before we get a real-life “second take”. The presenter even mentions a film critic’s response (Mark Kermode in fact), which this movie-reviewer very much enjoyed a nod to.

Loone directs, acts and even composes the music of Critically Acclaimed and though I’ve seen in the past too many jack-of-all-trade filmmakers spread themselves thin, here the quality is consistently good across the board. It’s also well edited by Robert Cannon who understands to move swiftly between scenes in a short film.

As the story progresses the opening canal location and frantic camera from the first “fake” movie scene is sadly something missing from later scenes in the “real” world. Shot-reverse-shot and the static camera may represent the drudgery of the inane press-tour but isn’t particularly visually appealing.

Combine this with the TV studio being shot in a front room (perhaps a lockdown restriction) these aspects don’t create much tension. This is in contrast to the excellent portrayal of Michael by Loone. His facial expressions and drifting mindset is clear to see and he becomes increasingly awkward about going through this process when he has much more on his mind.

The film uses some flights of fancy, flashbacks and into-the-camera moments to add a sprinkling of cinematic flourishes which showed a good use of the tools and techniques filmmakers can explore to create more dynamic moments in their shorts.

A passion project for years, the film was shot entirely in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham with an all-Midlands cast and for a first film it has much to recommend. The short takes swipes at the film industry, media personas and the multi-faced façade put on by people to make their way in the world. An excellent debut, Critically Acclaimed shows all the hallmarks of a filmmaker who has even more to come.

★★★★

Michael Sales