Elliot's Cradle

Directed by Daniel Alexander

2024

DA Films

How far you would go to reconnect with a lost loved one is the question posed in new horror Elliot’s Cradle from Daniel Alexander. And we discover that if you push too hard then you may not want to find out.

The film opens with a young upset woman (Natasha Faye Sandhu as Sarah) following a lady towards her house and asking if she goes by the name of Elaine. Despite the older woman denying she isn't, Sarah explains her baby recently died and it's this shocking disclosure that leads the lady to invite her into her home.

Admitting she is in fact this mysterious Elaine (played excellently by a pensive Gillian Broderick), the director lays clues to her past with a selection of strange trinkets, gold goblets and ominous candles.

With the women at each end of a wooden table, Sarah recalls her aunt once attended a séance and that she would do whatever it takes to make contact with her child Elliot for some closure. Yet with her desires laid bare, Elaine warns her of the consequences of this practice.

Correcting Sarah that she is in fact a medium, not a psychic, Elaine again refuses to engage but Sarah pleads for help after explaining her baby died from Sudden Death Syndrome.

Off the bat, director Alexander pulls us straight into a world of mundane suburbia hiding more sinister practices behind closed doors. This, along with the experienced Elaine clinking a spoon on a teacup, references similar themes seen in Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Not a bad influence at all.

On the technical level too, the director’s expertise in the short film format is displayed well. One such area, and it’s a small point, is the overlaying of credits over the first scene which really does maximise a short film’s brief run-time. We get to the story as quickly as possible. And yet as filmmakers you still get to recognise your (no doubt hard-working) cast and crew up front. Textbook technique.

The double-act cast are great as well. Natasha Faye Sandhu delivers a nuanced performance as Sarah who is vulnerable and desperate. And this is counterpointed well against Gillian Broderick’s blunt, crude and to-the-point medium.

An aside - unfortunately a YouTube advert popped up in the middle whilst watching the film. Filmmakers would do well to put these at the start/end. Monetising is a crucial piece of the filmmaker’s arsenal, but in this instance it especially removed the tension as Dominoes told me about its Tuesday deal!

Despite that, the short soon begins to inject classic horror moments. Once Elaine agrees to undertake the session, she importantly explains a rule that whatever happens Sarah should not turn around.

Some good sound mixing takes the short from eerie silence to a cacophony of screaming voices and haunting baby cries. A decrepit hand on Sarah's shoulder and an experience in a ghostly realm increases the alarming terror approaching as well.

Definitely no spoilers here but a shocking truth is uncovered towards the end that turns the story on its head and gives context to the previous events. And it leaves the audience with feelings of not just surprise but disgust too.

A solid short, the film’s technical attributes once again confirm the director’s cinematic quality credentials and the two leads help establish an atmospheric, and intriguing, tone throughout. For me, a bit more originality would just help push the film away from some genre tropes into its own new thing. But as it is, horror fans will certainly enjoy this impressively disturbing exploration of truth, lies and death.

★★★★

4 / 5

Michael Sales

And you can now watch the full short on our frontpage here www.midlandsmovies.com