Richard Powell’s short film HEIR excels at making the viewer feel a great deal of discomfort as it tells the story of a man wrestling with the monster growing inside him.  Robert Nolan plays Gordon, a man with a secret that is literally beginning to ooze out of him.  Late one night, Gordon is online making plans for him and his son, Paul (Mateo D’Avino,) to take a trip.  Gordon tells Paul they are going to see an “old college friend,” named Denis (expertly played by Bill Oberst Jr.) From the moment he is introduced, Denis gives off an extra creepy vibe that is clearer to the audience than to the oblivious Paul. While Gordon continuously questions what he is becoming, Denis embraces his demons.

Powell’s use of a monster metaphor to represent, physically, the ugliness that exists in certain perverted deviants is a good one, if not a new one. His introduction of the metaphor is able to avoid devolving the film into cheesiness. The very good and seamless creature effects maintain the intense atmosphere.  Lesser quality effects could have easily ruined the unnerving tone set by the earlier scenes. The measured use of score adds a great deal to the disquiet. As does the cinematography that made me feel like I was hiding in the room as events unfolded.

I would say the film is nearly flawless from a technical standpoint. However, I do feel it could have benefited from a tiny bit more character development for Gordon.  Additionally, there were a few moments in the film that left me with questions. The details of Denis and Gordon’s arrangement as well as the convenient timing of the events in the climax for example.  I also question Paul’s presence in the story, outside of  being a way to add a slightly manipulative emotional element to the end.

Overall, I found HEIR to be very well made and engaging. All of the technical aspects of the film were impressive. Nolan and Oberst both give fantastic and creepy performances.  And the monsters are very effective.  I would be interested in seeing HEIR developed further into a feature. Powell’s intense dramatic style left me looking forward to seeing what else is to come from this talented writer/director.