Skip to main content
#
The Independent Critic

STARRING
J. Calleja, Jesse Hernandez, Mariel Dennise, Kasandra Rivera, and Ivonne Perez Perez
DIRECTED BY
J. Calleja
SCREENPLAY
Jesse Hernandez
RUNNING TIME
13 Mins.

 

 "The Red Skirt" is Too Preachy to be Effective  
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
MySpace
Reddit
Add to favorites
Email

The tragedy of an unfaithful life confronts Janice (Mariel Dennise) while she attends her own funeral in the 13-minute horror short The Red Skirt, an occasionally effective short that too often gets bogged down by its philosophizing preachiness that mutes its overall impact.

Directed by J. Calleja and written by Jesse Hernandez, both of whom also appear in the film, The Red Skirt is an atmosphere heavy film and with characters such as Lover (J. Calleja) and Demon (Hernandez) you know you're about to experience the darker side of a one person's single yet ill-fated choice.

The Red Skirt is bathed in muted colors and even more muted tones and, at times, has the sort of feeling that brings to mind what Defending Your Life would have looked like had it possessed a much darker sensibility. There will likely be those who are able to appreciate the film much more than I was able to, but far too often the film takes on an almost faith-based sensibility about it as we're hammered by its ominous tone as we reflect back and forth on decisions to be made and consequences to be paid.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic