Midlands Review of The Heath
January 7, 2021
The Heath
Directed by Nisaro Karim
2021
Five Pence Productions
The second lockdown film from West Midlands filmmaker Nisaro Karim, The Heath is a new 8-minute short not only shot during the pandemic but very much about being at home too.
A woman (played by Lisa Blisset) arrives in her car in an everyday suburban street and as she parks up her vehicle, takes a call on her mobile through her facemask.
Unpacking her shopping, the scene is set for an ordinary day but we cut to voyeuristic moments of someone watching this lady go about her business.
Busy with her overloaded bags and still distracted on the telephone, the woman fails to realise her front door hasn’t closed properly behind her. And to raise the tension we get a point-of-view shot of this lurker heading towards, and then into, the home.
Nisaro has made a number of films before including The Game (review) and Bodybuilders (review), and this film sees the prolific director turn his hand to a suspenseful short.
The shooting quality is solid if a little plain, and for me, the film could have had some added presence if it was set at night. The bright daytime sun fails to give the piece any extra tension that would come with some stark shadows and dimly lit room corners.
That said, the point-of-view handheld camera is a perfect choice to capture the person prowling in rooms (even more so when revealed later) as we get them sneaking around corners and through doorways unbeknownst to our protagonist.
As her mobile phone runs out of power, she takes a call via a tablet and after taking a shower a noise spooks this woman as she stands at her bedroom mirror.
The short is consistent across the board but there’s not a great deal of excitement until the end. The curse of mobile phones taking up time in modern shorts is a tough one as we all use them daily but they don’t make particular interesting viewing on screen.
Limitations of the lockdown are again understandable but some tighter editing and shot styles cribbed from the likes of Fatal Attraction or Cape Fear will help the filmmaker quicken the pace and increase tension.
And by doing this it would help elevate the surprise ending even more so – as we get Nisaro’s own “friend” providing both a happy twist and important message about caring for others.
In the end, The Heath seems a lovely passion project for a cause close to the filmmakers heart but could have been tightened in a number of areas to make the honourable message all the more impactful.
Michael Sales
I’ve mentioned this before in reviews for Midlands Movies; reviewing low budget, independently made films requires a change in mindset. There’s a level of compromise, with allowances made for the odd rough-around-the-edges performance or some shaky effects work.
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