A hit man and his potential protege are tasked with burying a body in the countryside but the seemingly simple job takes an unexpected turn.

The Body (2020) serves a hilarious, but repetitive, storyline with an unexpected twist: a guy hires the services of an unknown-to-the-viewer company to dispose a body. As the company sends one of its worst candidates to do the job, the guy is impatiently waiting for him to act on it. Time elapses as these constantly argue do to one’s idiocy and the other one’s exasperated nature. They never seem to agree on anything. Especially, when it comes to understanding what a weapon is and why it is important for the task. Towards the end, they seem to agree on everything, but that’s when things turn thrilling because an agreement doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an understanding; things may still be shaky, and heads may still roll.

It is a simple and clean story, without complexions, but with a good structure that allows the dialogue to excel naturally. The acting is not as brilliant as the proposal, but it is credible to the point where you understand the purpose of its plot.

The quality of the image and the audio do not coincide since the first one surpasses the second one. The way the shots were made, they cause a convincing sensation that a short film is not being watched. From the intro sequence in which different angles are used to follow the journey of the hired subject riding on his car through an open road, it is quite breathtaking.

The interaction between both characters is basically Pinky-and-the-Brain-gone-dark, but the punchlines used are not entirely golden; it still all works its purpose. One of the running gags is how the hired subject doesn’t know who Michael Myers is; it’s known from the start and it’s mentioned again mid-short. For whatever it’s worth, that wasn’t the strongest line in the film; the incidental joke became sloppy once another slasher movie killer is referenced and the objection to the ignorance of it is null.

The Body kills with a combination of mystery and comedy. While the story is set in a desert, the plot and dialogue do not suffer from the scarcity and drought that space presents.

 

The Body
RATING: N/A
Runtime: 12 Mins.
Directed By:
Written By:

About the Author

Brandon Henry was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, just south of the border of San Diego. His birthplace is the main reason nothing really scares him (kidding… it’s a very safe place). His love for horror films came when his parents accidentally took him to watch Scream, at the age of 6, thinking that it was a safe-choice because it starred “that girl from Friends”. At 12, he experienced the first of many paranormal events in his life. While he waits to be possessed by the spirit of a satanic mechanic, he works as a Safety Engineer and enjoys going to the theater, watching movies and falling asleep while reading a book. Follow him on Instagram @brndnhnry and on Twitter @brandon_henry.