Given the title, I did suspect Black Dragon would possibly feature martial arts types throwing less swift and agile opponents around, but in fact it’s set in a US firebase command post during the Vietnam war, where heavy losses of US troops are taking their toll, wearying and demoralising those who remain. Oddly serene and apparently unaffected by the chaos and desperation, a Colonel is reading a postcard from his beloved son back home, who urges him to return safely and speaks of an angel watching over him. After tense news over the radio compels the officer to order an airstrike, one of his men enters, excited, a young & half-blind local girl (Celia Au) with him.

Her secret? The power to resurrect the dead.

When the terrified girl is prompted to prove her ability by resurrecting a dead rat, the CO, unmoved, quietly informs her he’s not the butcher he’s made out to be; suggesting a reputation which precedes him, and maybe in part explaining his unsettling calm. Perhaps as an attempt at explaining or even justifying his part in the devastation around them he continues, speaking of the protection of his son, the one source of any emotion he shows, as the reason for his actions. His own ominous view of the Angel watching over him, waiting, foreshadows the horror to follow, leading to a harrowing insight.

The director advises watching Black Dragon “in the dark, in 4K and as loud as possible. Good headphones recommended.”

You’ll understand why; most of the dialogue is hushed; the lighting just as you’d expect in this claustrophobic sandbag structure. It’s advice worth taking, as it does add to an atmosphere that’s both loaded and completely believable.

The full impact of Black Dragon becomes truly evident upon discovering director Alexander Thompson (co-writing with Nathaniel Hendricks), took inspiration from the Mỹ Lai massacre in 1968, during which an estimated 504 innocent civilians (almost entirely women, children, and the elderly) were brutalised and slaughtered by US troops under the reputedly erroneous impression they were sheltering VC, though this was by no means an isolated incident (researching for this review led me to the truest meaning of horror, and I wouldn’t recommend it under any other circumstances).

This is an elegant yet brutally direct representation of the visceral horror of war and its effects on the whole concept of humanity; both our own and that of others. Its perspective offers an unbiased view of the impact on all those unlucky enough to be involved in the terrible events of the Vietnam conflict; the behaviour we’re all capable of under certain conditions is given particular focus.

With a run time of just over 14 minutes it manages to combine artistic impressionism with grim reality in one hit, dealing with the many facets of the human psyche and how much the mind can handle before the slide into madness begins. It also reminds us that we are all only human.

Black Dragon is a masterpiece. Beautifully crafted, sensitively and uniquely handled. Don’t miss it.

10 out of 10 Inadequate Ratings Systems