In Simeon Lumgair's 10-minute dramatic thriller ÉLUDER, an envelope arrives at the hotel room of an academic (Fabien Lucciarini). It contains the photo of a woman. When he unexpectedly meets the woman (Mouna Bouchouk) and believes her life to be in danger, he becomes determined to do whatever it takes to protect her.

Emphasizing atmosphere over the spoken word, Lumgair has crafted a film that is stylish yet never really rises above the feeling of being an ultra-low budget indie with good intentions but no real ability to get there. Filmed in both English and French, ÉLUDER seeks to be a suspenseful thriller but is decidedly lacking in terms of suspense.

Lumgair does manage to instill the film with a sense of mystery, partially owing to D.P. Vijey Anant's ability to balance the shots between the two lead characters in such a way that we're always a bit intrigued as to who will do what next. While it's not particularly uncommon among low-budget shorts, the film's sound mix is noticeably off and distracts in a couple of the key cinematic moments.

ÉLUDER is currently on the film festival circuit and for additional information on the film you can visit the Quirky Motion website linked to in the credits.

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic