In the short film The Baby Next Door, Connor (Isaac Jay) is on the cusp of losing his mind, driven to binge drinking and pill-popping by the incessant cries and wails of a baby. He suspects the sounds come from next door, though as the film goes on, it’s clear that’s not the case. The short is a nail-biting exploration of one young man’s rapid mental and physical deterioration.
Connor hears the crying baby from the outset, and the noise keeps him up all night. He pounds on his neighbors’ door, but they claim to not have a baby. Still, that doesn’t stop him from hollering at them and threatening them. Meanwhile, Connor’s boss, Mrs. Sinclair (Rachelle Carson-Begley), gives him more work to do, specifically accounts that he’s wanted for some time. However, it’s evident that he’s going to crack under pressure, especially considering his lack of sleep.
There are few scenes in which Connor isn’t downing a bottle of liquor or popping pill after pill. Viewers will likely ask why Connor doesn’t simply wear headphones to drown out the noise. However, early on, it’s clear there’s something more that’s going on here, that Connor’s past haunts him. More specifically, it has to do with his ex-girlfriend Julia (Simone Lewis). Through flashbacks, we learn that Connor impregnated her, but didn’t want her to keep the baby, due to his career. From there, it’s pretty clear where this movie is going.
The short builds to a fairly memorable ending, after Connor lashes out at work, assaults his boss, and growls at his co-workers, before he’s dragged off. This scene is unintentionally funny. Maybe it’s simply the growling. Still, the short’s last two minutes are a contrast and generally pretty creepy, even if slightly predictable.
The Baby Next Door is an effective short about one man’s rapid downturn into madness. Like Poe’s “The Black Cat” or “The Tell-Tale Heart,” this is also very much a story about one man’s guilt and how that resurfaces in the present. The film’s conclusion, though predictable, is eerily effective.
