While the idea is not a new one, presenting a feature film as a single long shot is a rare achievement. 1917 was celebrated for doing it, Hitchcock’s Rope is simply a series of ten minute takes resulting in a single shot interrupted only by the need to change the reel in the camera. The 2012 horror film Silent House featuring Elizabeth Olsen traces its haunting in a single, 87 minute shot, and the Japanese One Cut of the Dead offers a single take narrative followed by a single take deconstruction showing how it was done – good zombie fun. Mike Figgis created four parallel single-shot films played simultaneously with Timecode, and the visually stunning Russian Ark had over 2000 performers carefully choreographed in a 96 minute single take. Stepping in to this club on a much smaller scale, displaying both the extraordinary achievement of a single-take film and the limitations of the conceit, Tristan Barr and Michael Gosden’s 2017 Australian film Watch the Sunset unfolds its drama in a small town with a cast of eight.

The story itself is simple, dwarfed in some ways by the technical achievement of simply doing it all in one take. A dirty, sweaty Danny (co-director and co-writer Tristan Barr) is driving through a washed out landscape with a dirty, terrified woman, Charis (Zia Zantis-Vinycomb), in the backseat. He stashes her in a hotel and meets up with his estranged baby momma, Sally (co-writer Chelsea Renee Zeller), and their daughter, Joey (Annabelle Williamson). While mom and dad argue, Joey goes to play, but ends up being kidnapped by biker gang members Shane (Aaron Walton) and the psychopathic Russell (co-director and co-writer Michael Gosden, who has written a hell of a fun role for himself). For what happens next, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

The title refers to Danny’s plan to drive to somewhere on the coast, away from the desert city in which they are stuck, live on the beach and, “just watch the sunset.” It reflects a yearning to escape the conditions and complications of one’s life, and a recognition that outside of Hollywood happy endings are few and far between.

Watch the Sunset does showcase the problem of doing a single shot across multiple locations–the characters must drive around town. While the first opening five minutes is impressive, setting the tone and the story in a dialogue-free series of events, eventually the viewer grows tired of waiting for them to drive to the next place. Given that, however, the choreography of the film is impressive, not only keeping the actors moving in real time but the camera and the crew as well, keeping them all out of the shot. Kudos to the filmmakers for staging a car wreck of rather impressive proportions in a single shot with only practical effects.

This feat is made more impressive by the scope of the project. With a budget of around a million dollars (Australian), five weeks of rehearsal, and four days of actual shooting (the film is the fourth day’s take), created by a group of friends who graduated together from the Victorian College of Arts in Melbourne, Australia. The collaboration and creativity is on display on screen, as is the skill of the performers. At the risk of giving away my own prejudices, film performances are usually crafted by the editor from a series of different takes, so theatrically trained performers who can remain in character for the time required are needed for a project such as this.

Overall, Watch the Sunset is an impressive and well-made tale.

9 out of 10