Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival -Family matters can be complicated. This is especially true if you need to decide what to do with a pretty massive piece of land left to you by your parents. This is generally the premise of writer/director Kaya Tone‘s short The Call of Water. Her film also combines several genres, including drama, fantasy, and even a bit of folk horror. The result is a work that showcases some real talent and interesting ideas.

Trinity Simpson stars as Nadia. She avoids making a decision about what to do with the homeland, despite her sister’s pressure to make a decision and make it soon. Nadia, however, doesn’t want to get saddled with the land, and you get a sense she also doesn’t want to live there forever, based on her negative comments about the locals. Initially, the short plays out like a family drama. However, Nadia’s friend comments there’s something about the land that keeps drawing people to it, and at this point, we edge folk horror territory. The land feels strange, powerful, and mysterious, even though its history is not fully explored in the 20-minute runtime. The short becomes even more genre-bending once Nadia takes shrooms and goes missing for a period. Once she’s flung into the astral plane, buckle up. Reality blurs.

While tripping, Nadia encounters an imposing creature (Sawyer Wright) with a skull mask, antlers, and blue hands. It’s an ancient force that has some connection to the land. This horned being makes for one unsettling and strange character. Nadia keeps running from it, but she can’t do that forever. She must confront it. Meanwhile, the land very much feels alive in this film, thanks to Tone’s frequent shots of the woods and some of the camera tricks once Nadia takes a drug trip to avoid real life. Maybe the land wants to consume her, or maybe it’s the shrooms. The ambiguity and uncanny elements work quite well.

The short has a definite conclusion, but there exists the potential for something more. Nadia is a good character, confronting some major life decisions. Further, “the horned one” is a memorable and formidable creature. I wanted to get lost in these woods even longer. Give us more about this land and more about the creature.

7.5 Out of 10