13.01.17 Review

Workaholic Daniel Phipps (Reuel James) is living his ordinary life until the incident costing Toby Michaels’ (Kaylum Smith) life reveals the true meaning of second chances.

The short film '13.01.17' produced and directed by Lily August, Thea Neville and Zian Young, three youngsters who are new to the world of filmmaking and have put together a well composed, simple yet suspense filled drama with similarities to that of 'Groundhog Day' (1993) and '12.01' (1993). They have clearly portrayed day-to-day life in a way that shows what it would be like to have another chance at your day.

The film starts with a montage of both Toby Michaels (Kaylum Smith)’s and Daniel Phipps (Reuel James)’s morning; the two of them are getting ready for work and there is a simple happy theme over this. This is the introduction to the characters where we can make our first impressions of their retrospective personalities. Toby Michaels, your everyday family man with his partner and later, we find, soon to be father. On the other hand, we first meet Daniel waking on his sofa in what we assume is yesterday’s clothes. The doctor is represented to be a workaholic and perhaps quite stressed or tired. The integration of the two mornings allows us to see the differences between the two characters, for example, there is no mention of Daniel having any close family or friends, he is always seen alone throughout the film

which can affect personality and the way one looks at life.

'13.01.17' is filled with ambiguity and suspense. After the morning montage, the film cuts to black; there is no image but there are sound effects put in place which forces you to picture what could have happened. The up and coming directors chose to not show what happens here and leaves it to the imagination, we know there was a crash and the next thing we see is Toby in hospital. Toby is seen upside down on the screen and covered in blood. The lights are flickering over his face and there are images fading into picture. The portrayal of one’s life being turned upside down and having your life flash before your eyes here shows it to be literal and tugs on the heart strings. The film then cuts to black again and we hear Phipps state “time of death” before cutting to him in an office making a phone call to the pregnant Miss Young (Leah Smith). The placement of the title '13.01.17' during the crash with wind being the only thing heard, builds the tension. Silence speaks volumes; for the film to go from a loud car crash to the low volumes of wind with the title, symbolises how life can just be taken from you.

There is very little conversation in this film which is strange for a drama. The phone call shared by Daniel and Miss Young moves the story along, we can gain some information on our characters for example, how professional Phipps is at his job but also the poor acting received from Smith with her portrayal of a distraught Miss Young. This scene had potential to emote the audience and draw some more attention but the lack of skill from smith demotes the standard of this scene.

There are small details that, if you’re not paying attention, you won’t notice. For example, the alarm on the phone, from the opening scene, if you look closely at the date, the title is visible through that of the date and again on the last repeated day, Phipps takes out his phone and you can see the date, which is the same, this is where Phipps realises that he is on a time loop and then rushes to the scene of the crash. '13.01.17' is the date of a Friday; Friday the 13th. This is the day that superstitious people believe bad things will happen to them, what a cliché.

Everybody loves a good thriller; the tension, suspense, death and ambiguity. ’13.01.17’ fills each of these categories and then some. Despite the poor acting and the difficulties in understanding the storyline the drama/thriller demonstrates the future potential of the fresh filmmakers and characterises the significance of sacrificing your needs for the people around you.

VERDICT : A heart wrenching, captivating short film showing how we only get one chance at our life.