Reduced to Clear

Written & directed by Luke Allen & Alex Yousefi

2021

A man named Mike (good name) starts work at a small charity shop in a new locally-made short film about the trials and tribulations of shop workers and their awkward customers.

Welcomed by his new boss (Simon Fisher-Becker) who advises he “consults the rulebook” if he ever gets stuck with a patron, Mike (played by Edward Tidy) begins his shift and hopes for the best.

A gentleman soon arrives and tries to purchase a DVD (the man being The Office’s very own Ewen Macintosh) but his debit card is declined by the till.

A misunderstanding of what an “outstanding” balance is results in Mike paying the 50 pence charge himself rather than get into any further altercation.

The confusion continues as a second man attempts to order a coffee – popping £50 on the counter to get what he wants. Not wanting to lose the charity a big donation, Mike heads off in search of a coffee arriving in what can only be described as a 1930s speakeasy within the community centre he’s based.

At just 17 years-old filmmakers Luke Allen & Alex Yousefi inject their short with a host of visual, verbal and genre-nodding gags as well as a cameo of themselves that Hitchcock would be proud of.

The spirit of their project is clear to see on screen with a host of committed cast on board for the ride including some surprisingly well-known names as well.

And the script has a witty energy that far surpasses the age of its creators. (“That’s why I killed him” getting the biggest guffaw from this reviewer in a brief and very dark moment involving an old lady and her grandson).

What follows is a man with a gun, Mike’s own embarrassing mum and an unconscious old lady who all cross paths with Mike in quick succession before he eventually consults the “rulebook” – which turns out to be a real antique leather-bound tome.

A few areas of technical improvement would give it a slightly more professional gloss though. Having been filmed at Wakes community centre in Telford (Shropshire), the main location is clearly not a shop at all. The filmmakers would have done well to see if they could have shot at a more suitable location out-of-hours.

And although the lighting is a little off in places, the short itself does show lots of great ideas and the script and fast editing don’t allow audiences to dwell too much on the low-budget nature of the film. And it all culminates in a 4^th-wall breaking ending that throws everything you’ve seen a little out of the window somewhat.

However, Reduced To Clear consistently keeps the viewer off kilter which maintains its interesting edge until the end. Throwing a lot into its 10 minutes, the short has its shortcomings with location and lighting, but viewers are compensated by surreal comic interludes, amusing characters played well by the cast and a sharp little script that keeps the whole thing chugging along at speed.

And if you donate just a little time to this, you’ll be more than pleased to see what the up-and-coming talent this region can produce under their own steam, with plenty more promise hinted upon too.

Michael Sales