Harlan (Pascal Yen-Pfister) is a photographer has a creative block. Tired of shooting the same old scenes, Harlan is uninspired until he begins taking photographs of his wife (Rhea Sandstrom). While the early results are promising, the increasingly personal nature of his work begins to concern his agent (Timothy J. Cox) and this is where writer/director Chai Dingari's nearly 13-minute short film really starts to get interesting.

An intelligent and well acted film, especially with lead Yen-Pfister, The Misogynist is the kind of film that begs for each individual's own interpretation. As Harlan, Pascal Yen-Fister does a nice job of not strictly defining his character and simply allowing his actions to speak for themselves. As his perfectionism begins to cause chaos in his marriage and daily life, Harlan's actions take a decidedly darker turn. In addition to Yen-Pfister's solid performance, Rhea Sandstrom does a nice job as his wife along with Timothy J. Cox as his agent.

Dingari paces the film nicely, never tipping the card as to where the action is going and maximizing the film's impact. While the film doesn't completely satisfy, at times feeling like a smaller piece of a bigger project, Dingari's characters are intriguing and one can easily see Harlan being a captivating feature film character.

Filmed on a modest $1,000 production budget, The Misogynist does occasionally get held back by its inherent technical limitations including a couple scenes that are a tad too dark and a couple not quite smooth edits.

The Misogynist is a competently made indie short that reveals both a writer/director with promise and the obvious challenges that come with producing a film on a modest budget.

Fortunately, you can decide for yourself by watching the film on this very page!

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic