FILMS

A shot taken from the second scene in ‘JACKED’

Film Review - JACKED

UK 2016 Director: Liam Monk Cast: Kieran Falzon, Candice Russel, Harry Dobson, Jake Took Certificate: 12

Banstead Reviewers Newsletter March 2016

scene. The ending of JACKED is somewhat

unfulfilling for us as an audience, with James

only getting some closure as he sees his at-

tacker unconscious on the floor. But the in-

tended theme of retribution or ‘karma’ is still

evident to us as viewers. Overall, JACKED is

a well-rounded short, with some mishaps of

continuity and cinematography (overly shaky

camera work). However it is a much greater

standard than Monk’s last publication ‘A Life In

Hebetude’, and is saved by the intense feel of

the scenes and the risk that the character is

put under; which helps create a nice immer-

sive feel to the short, and finishes the short

with the audience still slightly on edge . To

give the film justice, a rating of 6 out of 10

would be appropriate, but this could be

argued depending on how important you feel

cinematography and editing to be over

narrative.

So we are left to assume that the short is

just going to be another predictable monoto-

nous playout of events afterward, but luckily

for Monk, this is not the case. Kerry’s violent

throw of her ring back to James really sets

us the infortune of James in the next

scenes. The performance of James is slight-

ly lacklustre when he first sees the hooded

men following behind him, with the almost

false surprise breaking our immersion into

the film. The following scenes are well

placed and feel as though they flow with the

structure of the narrative. We see James

pacing away from these men as he’s imme-

diately worries by their presence. However,

it seems too sudden and overly cautious,

therefore limiting the immersion into the

story. On the other hand, as he moves onto

the field we are given a well-placed sense of

relief and false security as James stops and

takes a deep exhale. Then the ensuing

shock and surprise as he is taken by the

two attackers, really helps drive the audi-

ences worry for James’ safety The sense of

fear in James is elicited well through the

performance and as he gives the men the

fake phone, we are shocked and left pon-

dering whether he is simply brave or stupid

for attempting such a risky move. This re-

action sets us up nicely for when his actual

mobile phone goes off and the attackers

return, this time, bringing out a knife. The

camera movement within the confrontation

is continuous and smooth, however there

are some significant continuity errors that

really bring down the impact of the immer-

sion into that particular

Jacked is a 2016 short film production,

directed by the new and upcoming creator

Liam Monk. For his first short film, ‘Jacked’

produces scenes of horror and despair for

not only the character within, but also the

audience watching. The violence and

trauma shown really helps us as an audi-

ence empathise for James (Kieran Falzon)

when he’s being attacked by the two ‘scum

of the Earth’ hooded men walking around

with knives and the intent to take whatever

they want, with no regard for human well-

being. The story begins with a clearly dis-

functioning couple that is fighting over the

usual petty problems such as mobile com-

munications with people that aren’t their

other half. James is given to us as the ig-

norant male character on his mobile phone

whilst his girlfriend Kerry (Candice Russel)

is walking awkwardly beside him frustrat-

ed. The ensuing conversation is the bog-

standard ‘girlfriend is angry, the guy

doesn’t know why’ argument we see in

more features these days than needed.

Synopsis

The story begins with a young couple having an argument and the girl (Kerry) throwing a

ring at the boy (James) and walking off. After picking it back up, James walks down the

path but notices two hooded men now following behind him. Seeing this, James paces

off into an open field and stops to look at the ring. The men however catch up to him and

take him down to the floor. They take a phone and his wallet, however the phone James

gave them is fake. As they are walking off, James’ actual phone goes off, causing the

men to run over and putting James at knifepoint. The attackers take his actual phone

and walk off shouting strong and abusive language at James. After he gets himself

together, James walks back down to the bottom of the park. However by a road, he sees

one of his attackers lying unconscious infront of a stopped car. A group of people are

standing around the attacker, but James continues to walk over and take the man’s bag

and headphones. James ignores the shouting behind him and continues to walk into the

distance.

Cast:

James: Kieran

Falzon

Kerry: Candice

Russel

Attacker 1: Harry

Dobson

Attacker 2: Jake

Took

Bystander 1: Neil

Monk

Bystander 2: Carol

Monk

Credits: Director: Liam Monk

Producer: Liam Monk

Editor: Liam Monk

Writer: Liam Monk

Sound Design: Liam

Monk

Production Assistant:

Curtis Snelling

Properties: Design

Loren Turner

Hair and makeup

Design: Loren Turner

Costume Design:

Loren Turner