Molly Smith

Draft 2 of Review (Little White Lies)

What’s that? You want to hear me jabber on about Little Red Riding Hood again? After Catherine Hardwicke’s success with ‘Red Riding Hood’ (2011) I bet you thought we couldn’t expect another bloodcurdling red-hot fairy tale for a long time and yet the chilling fairy tale, ‘Redemption’, makes its entrance at the London Short Film Festival.

People thought they saw the best of lead, Emily Redif in the award-winning drama ‘The Diary of Molly-Ann’, but she has amazed us with her impressive come-back in Redemption. This time Molly Smith, Nabeela Hamid and Rakulan Sivalingam are back with a change of genre after their magnificent action-packed film franchise ‘Avoidance’ in this deep, dark, daunting fantasy turning Emily Redif into a kind, defenceless teenager.

A reworking of the classic fairy-tale would make you think there would surely be a wolf? Well this film proves you don’t have to have razor sharp claws and a huge mouth filled with cut-throat penetrating teeth to be one; in this modern version you just need to be a cold-hearted, manipulative, delusional maniac.

This gnashing fairy-tale has a few conventions of Little Red Riding Hood, but it seems to manipulate the pleasantness of the tale that still allows us to peek through our fingers when watching. Young, vulnerable teenager Emily is in modern-day society and is distressed that her Grandma is dying in hospital. Her journey to see her Grandma is interrupted and causes her to take a dark, twisted turn into the forest with the involvement of a so-called ‘friend’.

The cinematography in this film makes the viewing extremely intense and the use of non-diegetic sounds makes you legitimately believe you are in the enchanted forest. The powerful thing about this film is that there are many twists in the film that make you want to watch it again. This dream/nightmare does involve a hero but Smith, Hamid and Sivalingam support feminism in this gruesome tale and the saviour is in fact a female. This film will definitely entice you to watch more and maybe even make you think twice about a walk in the forest. And most of all this film will make you feel the need to look behind you when walking down the streets at night…

Anticipation; Smith, Hamid and Sivalingam take an unexpected turn in this fairy-tale. (4)

Enjoyment: Rak’s creepy, dead-eyed coldness will surely make you re-think your friends. (3)

Molly Smith

In retrospect: Who let the dogs out? (3)