UNBEARING

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thank you to fellow independent filmmaker, Samantha Kolesnik for hooking me up with a link to a 9 minute, Horror/Thriller short called “Unbearing”, Written by Jennifer Trudrung and Directed by Aidan Weaver. Unbearing is about a young babysitter, Lindsay (played by Mary Katherine O’Donnell) whose given a job watching a middle-aged couple’s infant child for the night. They leave her with live bedroom video footage from a monitor via her phone and she oversees the sleeping baby. The film also stars Jennifer Trudrung, Reginald Heinish and Jenna Goforth.

THE GOOD

So this eerie babysitter short was recommended to me by Samantha, writer of the recent horror short, “I Baked Him A Cake” which I recently reviewed *see review* https://adamthemoviegod.com/i-baked-him-a-cake-review/. I like the premise of Unbearing, it’s very matter of fact, and in its short run time Trudrung is able to create a sense of uneasiness, leaving me with a similar feeling I got from watching the bizarre German film, “Der Bunker”. The audio levels are good and the lighting is really warm for a film of this nature. I noticed that Unbearing is Samuel Zeilender’s first time behind the camera and I think he deserves some praise for his efforts. The framing is generally quite good, and the use of a steady tracking shot adds to the production value. I particularly liked the aerial shot slowly descending on Lindsay as she lay on the rug with her books and paperwork strewed about. The score has some nice ambience to it and the performances from all four actors are of a high standard.

THE BAD

I give Zeilender credit for shooting his first film but there are downfalls with the cinematography, though he’ll surely benefit in the long run from the experience of Unbearing. For the first four or five minutes of the short the frame rate appears to lag a pace or two (maybe it was just the screener copy). It’s not out of synch, just delayed and quickly starts to become a distraction. He’s also guilty of accidental lapses in focus on a number of occasions, but these things come with growth. MINOR SPOILERS: I somewhat predicted the direction Trudrung’s story was headed in, but I still rather enjoyed it. The only aspect that didn’t fit was the heavy breathing, which clearly sounds very different to how it would if that was the real situation, you’d be trying to replicate the actual sound.

Unbearing is another solid short film to add to the list of impressive shorts for 2017. I’ve seen a lot of great content from different people all over the world, each with varying budgets and degrees of experience and it’s all been positive (well mostly). I liked the setting of Unbearing, the lighting, the score and the performances. I did see some of the developments coming and the breathing part didn’t quite make sense. Unfortunately the camera work is inconsistent, most notably the focus and the frame rate issues and I think that holds the film back a fraction. That said, it’s great to see people trying their hand at the craft and I look forward to seeing what Jennifer and Co. do next.

My rating for “Unbearing” is 7/10