STARRING
Francesca Louise White, Rayanna Dibs, Alastair Railton, Mark Wisdom WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Alastair Railton RUNNING TIME
42 Mins. OFFICIAL WEBSITE
"Between the Divide" Gets Set for Indie Fest Circuit
A new psychological thriller from writer/director Alastair Railton, Between the Divide will have its world premiere at the upcoming DMOFFest ahead of what is hoped for as a lengthy journey through the indie film festival circuit.
The film begins in a luxurious London apartment where a man lies dead, Detective Eve Fisher (Francesca Louise White) facing her most challenging case yet and torn between two equally dangerous and manipulative suspects all while fighting her own inner demons.
Between the Divide is your standard issue psychological thriller, a modestly twisty endeavor that is categorized as a short film yet exists almost squarely on that mostly undefined line that exists between short films and full-length features. At 42 minutes in length, Between the Divide is too lengthy in run time to qualify for many shorts fests, though even referencing the film as a feature makes it feel less satisfying.
The film benefits greatly from the presence of Francesca L. White, whose performance as Detective Fisher has layers of complexity and intrigue and who is just plain fun to watch.
On the whole, however, Between the Divide feels like exactly what it is - a low budget short that is overly ambitious but, in all likelihood, a tremendous learning experience for Railton after the success of his first short film, Through Emerald Eyes. It's certainly hard to fault Railton's ambition here in crafting a film that, quite directly, looks at mental health issues and what happens when those issues are ignored by society.
Adam Hudson's lensing accomplishes quite a bit despite the film's budgetary limits, infusing the film with a sense of suspense and anxiousness and using the lack of tech options in effective ways that serve the story quite nicely.
Between the Divide is a promising film for both cast and crew, perhaps not quite as successful as one might hope given the obviously high ambitions of the project but still rather enjoyable to watch and the kind of film that indicates Railton isn't a filmmaker afraid to take chances.
