Last Lullabye

Directed by Manoj Anand

2022

Chota Captain Productions

A new 7-minute short from Leicester-based filmmaker Manoj Anand has been released which explores the housebound horrors of lockdown.

Filmed in May 2020 under strict UK lockdown conditions, Last Lullabye [sic] opens with a narrator voiced by Dale Anthony Church describing the frustrations of being cooped up at home.

The director himself stars as the lead Subash Chandra and the film uses the handheld horror format with the actor/director filming himself as he heads around his house venting his exasperation at being sealed inside.

The words are delivered in a poetic way before the film heads off into a slight experimental direction as the infuriated protagonist has sleepless nights and begins to hear chanting voices and what sounds like a child’s bedtime song. As well as this, it spins off into animation where an entity possibly representing fear appears and floats across the screen further adding to the film’s strange dynamic.

And knowing it’s admirably filmed during some difficult pandemic conditions, the film also tries to create a sense of confusion, disorientation and panic representing what many were feeling at the time.

Sadly though, some of the limitations have meant the technical issues impede the film’s higher goals. A greater focus on an attention to detail would improve some aspects of the film. Off the bat, the film’s logo is slightly pixelated, and the 720p quality of the footage may have suited a 2000s flick but not so the case with modern smart phones.

And these unfortunately start to add up as a viewer could begin to wonder whether the dark shots, weird sound mix and eccentric framing are actually a mistake or somewhat intentional.

Definitely more art-house than Hollywood horror, Last Lullabye is commendable for what looks like an attempt to piece together a film where sequences were apparently shot and made in different people’s homes themselves.

In the end, sadly the technical elements and final execution doesn’t quite muster with the tools available today. And it's this which leaves the film as a messy short that has potential but is sometimes as frustrating as lockdown itself. But the director’s intent to pull together creatives during an extremely frustrating time for everyone is very honourable and clear to see.

★★☆☆☆

Michael Sales