Writer/director Grace Alwyn Ashworth's darkly comical short film A Dunder Plunder has wrapped up its lengthy fest run after over 20 fests appearances and a People's Choice Award at the 2019 IndieFlicks Film Festival in the UK and is currently available for viewing on Vimeo or right here on The Independent Critic. 

The film centers around a cat burglar (Corin Silva) whose plans to steal from a country mansion are interrupted when he stumbles across the owner's sobbing ex-wife (Melanie Ash) in one of the bedrooms. In just under eight minutes, Ashworth takes this British comedy in fun directions with laughs that hit the mark largely on the strength of the performances of both Silva and Ash. 

While A Dunder Plunder could have undeniably gone much, much darker Ashworth instead plays it all with a few more smarts and for quite a few more laughs as the dialogue-intensive film gives us a slightly empathetic cat burglar and an ex-wife with more than a few issues. 

A Dunder Plunder is more about the consistent chuckle than it is just plain laugh out loud funny, though there's good will galore here and you'll certainly have fun in the film's eight minutes. The entire scenario unfolds in the bedroom alongside James Swift's strong lensing and Catriona Delbridge's expert editorial work. 

The film is the kind of indie comedy you can't help but enjoy and it's no wonder it found such success along its indie fest journey. While the fest world has been thrown into chaos over the past year due to the pandemic, A Dunder Plunder is proof positive that with a great story and a solid ensemble there were still good things waiting to happen. 

Check A Dunder Plunder out for yourself either on Vimeo or directly above this review. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic