Remission - 2022
“Remission is a sci-fi environmental horror which takes place in a remote research facility in Antarctica. Oliver and Maggie Rothschild, leading virology researchers, discover a rare virus which may permanently change our planet.
We've spent decades killing our planet. Now it returns the favor.”
“We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns. For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It’s life or death.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Remission, 2022, 16 minutes, USA. Directed by Ben Schatzel. Written by Ben Schatzel and Cody Siemiatkowski. Edited by Ben Schatzel and Savannah Wakefield. Cinematography by Lucas Cohen. Special effects by Trevor Mowry. Music by Alexander Ellis. Cast: Dan Daly (Dr. Oliver Rothschild), Meredith Lindsey (Dr. Margaret Rothschild), Jelani Talib (Elijah), Liz Hackworth (Taryn), Manu Ajmani (Dr. Sonjay Mezrani). From Stacked Deck Studios, currently playing on YouTube.
I’ll be honest, this is my favorite kind of short film. It sets up the problem, it introduces a small group of characters, and then it unleashes the madness. No fluff, no filler, just sixteen minutes of story in a sixteen minute film. Remission finds Dr. and Dr. Rothschild in the middle of Antarctica, doing science things, when Dr. Margaret Rothschild points out that she has found something strange, what seems to be a virus, possibly originating in the Ice Age. While she looks into this further, Dr. Oliver Rothschild confers with Dr. Mezrani over Zoom (or Skype, or whatever), and Mezrani says he worries that he has seen something like this before…and maybe it’s Earth’s way of evening the score, shall we say, against these pesky polluting humans. Meanwhile, our two younger interns, Elijah and Taryn, are walking down the hall when suddenly, something bad happens… Cue the madness unleashing!!!
To say much more will just spoil the fun, but suffice it to say, things are not going well down at the South Pole. Director Schatzel is careful to not show too much while also telling the story as clearly as is needed, and credit to him for not going too far either way. This is a well-shot, well-acted short film, one that takes so little of your time but packs such a strong punch. There is a very strong, and very obvious, pro-environment message here, but it’s not so on the nose as to make the cynic in you cranky. Part of this is because it’s too short to irritate anyone, and part is because it has such strong vibes of John Carpenter’s The Thing that even a tree-hating, pro-fracking, coal-worshipping asshole has to admit it’s a bit creepy. But what’s awesome is that it is completely different from Carpenter’s masterpiece, the only real similarities being the cold and the dread.
Scene highlights include:
*** Fantastic acting for a straight-to-YouTube release
*** Far-too-real dread (I mean, our planet is not happy with us, and our kids will be very upset about our decisions regarding conservation and environmentalism)
*** An excellent closing scene that leaves the audience wanting more
For fans of cold weather horror; rape (of mother earth) revenge; low-budget short films that don’t make you keep thinking about the low budget.
If you like subtle horror, “elevated” horror, smart horror, or just well-made, intelligent, topical short films, Remission is a must-see movie. And how nice is this… It’s right here!!! You can literally watch it right here without paying any money or going to any other page (or you can click through to watch directly on YouTube leave comments of compliments and praise).