THE GUEST Review

Of all the short films I’ve seen this year- and believe me, there’s been many, few handled the perfect balance of style, substance & tease that so few shorts manage to grasp as effortlessly as Jovanka Vuckovic’s THE GUEST.

Existentialism can be seen as the beating heart of many a horror classic, from the gothic auteur of James’ seminal Turn of the Screw to the stark realism of JACOB’S LADDER. “Who, really, are we?”. That same beating heart resonates within THE GUEST, Vuckovic’s 3^rd time at the directing wheel, yet what those references manage to evoke over 200+ pages or 1 ½ hours, THE GUEST unravels in mere minutes- the age old adage that man’s greatest fear is what is inside his own head. Or is it? Such is the central dilemma to THE GUEST, and boy is it starkly terrifying in its raising of man’s fragility. Yet it never comes across as a preaching exercise, contrarily it raises more questions than it answer, and as such will likely stay with you long after the credits have rolled. It’s Kafkaesque dilemma, like a parasite burrowing into your brainstem.

That’s not to say all THE GUEST brings to the table is theoretical; possibly the only thing more terrifying than its concept is its ethereal imagery, which just like the existential problem will bury itself into your brainstem, as much for it’s beauty as its horror. These are quite simply images that, much like the film’s protagonist, you will not be able to remove from your memory. Special mention should be given to both Vuckovic for conceiving of such abstractly gorgeous tableaus but also cinematographer Ian Anderson for realising them so evocatively in an almost stroboscopic nightmare of beauty.

THE GUEST is a piece almost devoid of reviewability in analysis, thanks to its aforementioned existentialist nature; it’s not a case of ‘You’re best going in blind’, but rather I would be surprised if this film did not have a nonetheless profound but very individual impact on each of its audience members. It works on such a cerebral level, I feel it a disservice to dilvulge any more than I already have to you. Quite simply, seek it out at all costs.

A haunting and visually remarkable Faustian tale on its surface, with a transcendental beating heart within it; THE GUEST is more than welcome in my house.

8 blood mouthwashes / 10 talking arm chairs.

And that’s my two cents