COSMO

Directed by Jonathan Hawes

2022

One Door Films

Local actor Michael Muyunda stars as the protagonist in this new comedy short from Midlands filmmaker Jonathan Hawes.

“I’m a reasonable guy”, says the lead in voiceover as Cosmo begins with a man typing at a computer as he airs his frustration about his encounter with a “little shit”.

Ironically, not just a turn-of-phrase, as what we are introduced to is a man whose finely-kept garden is befouled by literal poo from an unknown animal.

Scraping it up and washing his hands, Muyunda’s character is subsequently surprised to find that it’s been repeated and again, makes an effort to clean it up.

Searching through the internet he does an image search for the most appropriately looking “faeces” in order to identify the culprit. But with some additional internet sleuthing (stalking?) he checks the social media of his neighbour (Mark Aldrich) which then leads him to a pet cat named Cosmo.

The story then moves on to the attempts to prevent the cat from further pooing but even banana slices and a word with his neighbour do little to stop the shite.

The film's subject matter lends itself to the short's darkly comedic tone with certainly more than a “littering” of poo-based sequences. Muyunda is fantastic as a man at his wits end, whose physical acting and facial expressions have to carry a lot of the film given his co-star is mostly a feline.

Like a sort of Wile E. Coyote, the attempts to catch the animal fail again until he attempts to use a rat(cat) trap but after the moggy gets caught, the man’s more heartfelt side is revealed. Or does it? Can the animal redeem itself? Well, Cosmo is then listed as “the beast” in a scrapbook but a wry smile suggests this one could go either way.

As a dog owner myself, I cannot stand those who don’t pick up or take responsibility after their mutts. No doubt many of us have subsequently gone home and been forced to hose down shoes after inadvertently stepping on it. So I certainly feel this character's anger.

A black comedy with many faecal funnies, the short is certainly original and shows one man’s frustrations at a situation no doubt many lawn owners can relate to. And Muyunda’s annoyance is consistently entertaining in a film that successfully explores the (garden) boundaries of pets and their poop.

★★★½

3.5/5

Michael Sales