Unregistered, directed by Sophia Banks and written by Erin Dignam, is about a young couple (played by Trevor Jackson and Dylan Penn) dealing with the overlapping intricacies of digital communication in their dystopian city. Serving up interesting twists and tasty visuals, Unregistered is a nicely packaged short feature for those who like little sci-fi in their media diets.

From the start, Unregistered offers up a cool little universe that is visually striking in this pursuit. The use of CGI is tasteful and not nearly as overwhelming as it could have been considering the fact that there’s not a scene without it. In addition to its narrative themes, Unregistered has an interesting, sophisticated relationship between cameras, lenses, and vision. It’s weird to say this, but Unregistered is almost a little too polished. As a result, the drama at the center of the story feels a bit disjointed from its mise-en-scène. Nonetheless, it goes down quick and easy, with a good number of moments that elicit a ponderous “hm” because it has more nuance than the average short film.

Since Unregistered is screening at Tribeca film festival this year, it seems likely that it’s being shopped around to catch funding for a bigger project. And it probably will be successful at doing just that. I can’t exactly say that I would watch a full-length feature based on this short, but I know many who would. A perfectly decent blend of speculative sci-fi and romantic drama, Unregistered showcases technical mastery and doesn’t ham it up even though it easily could.