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Short film review archive

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D — 98 results

  • Drunk Bus (2020)
    Review preview for Drunk Bus

    Stories like this are not particularly thin on the ground, so how special this one feels to you will depend on how you personally connect with the characters.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A directionless, young campus bus driver and a punk rock, Samoan security guard named Pineapple form an unlikely friendship.
  • Dua Ji (2026)
    Review preview for Dua Ji

    Full of delicate emotion and attention to detail.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Tensions rise in a family as siblings gather for their mother's funeral.
  • Duck Daze (2019)
    Review preview for Duck Daze

    This is a community that, one suspects, director Alison Piper understands well.

    Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
    Johnina gets revenge on her childhood abuser and the community that enabled him, with the help of a duck.
  • DumbLand (2002)
    Review preview for DumbLand

    Outrageously funny, but also manic, tense, irritant, disturbing and depressing.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    Absurd animated comedy.
  • Dundee Courier: Production Of A Great Daily Newspaper (1911)
    Review preview for Dundee Courier: Production Of A Great Daily Newspaper

    Though it's relatively long it's so packed with incident and detail that it flies by.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    Commissioned to celebrate the Dundee Courier's 50 years as a daily newspaper, the film illustrates the various newspaper activities from reporting, editing, setting the linotype to the final printing.
  • Deafness (2010)
    Review preview for Deafness

    This might almost be mime, were it not, well, brilliant.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    A mute man is arrested in a short film devoid of audible words.
  • Dear Dad (2007)
    Review preview for Dear Dad

    Despite the film being well shot it remains unclear what Haig is hoping to achieve by overlaying images of her dad at work with testimony about their troubled relationship.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
    A daughter tries to reach reconcilation with her father.
  • Dear Marianne (2016)
    Review preview for Dear Marianne

    It is this conjuring of images beyond the frame of the film that is Jenkin's neatest trick.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A Cornishman sends postcards home from Ireland.
  • Dear Peter (2016)
    Review preview for Dear Peter

    The story told is one that is fairly judged, well constructed, moving.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    A filmmaker tries to find the owner of a series of handwritten postcards he finds in second hand bookshop.
  • Death Becomes You (2007)
    Review preview for Death Becomes You

    Jim Carrey isn’t going to lose any sleep over this.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
    The Grim Reaper comes to the wrong house.
  • Death In A Nut (2012)
    Review preview for Death In A Nut

    Possessed of a compelling, folkloric intensity, Tom Chick's film is a morbid gem.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    Jack battles to stop death from stealing his mother.
  • Death To The Tinman (2007)
    Review preview for Death To The Tinman

    A macabre fairy tale in black-and-white without fairies is superficial enough to be frivolous.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
    An amputee's rom-com, cut short. Showing as part of World Shorts 1 at EIFF 2007.
  • Decapoda Shock (2011)
    Review preview for Decapoda Shock

    Once you have seen it you cannot help but measure every film you have ever seen against it.

    Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5
    After an accident offworld, an astronaut returns home looking for those responsible.
  • Deep Red (2012)
    Review preview for Deep Red

    It is in places red, but it is nowhere deep.

    Andrew Robertson · 1.5 out of 5
    An experimental exploration of colour.
  • Defoe (2009)
    Review preview for Defoe

    Visually it's a delight, but spectacle is not enough.

    Andrew Robertson · 2.5 out of 5
    Sci-fi short about a shipwrecked traveller, a strange desolate land and a fateful clash with the locals.
  • Deja Vu (2003)
    Review preview for Deja Vu

    The concept may be simple, but the application is full of confidence.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
    monochromed young man in pub starts seeing the future in colour
  • The Delaware Project (2007)
    Review preview for The Delaware Project

    The mystery is the girl.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 2.5 out of 5
    Sad girl has trouble with her eyes.
  • Deleted (2006)
    Review preview for Deleted

    By revealing things step by step, firstly as still images and then through video Holmes notches up the tension.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    S&M thriller.
  • Delilah and George (2003)
    Review preview for Delilah and George

    The script is excellent.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A love affair that never was.
  • Delusion (2001)
    Review preview for Delusion

    As with all Day's work, the animation is extremely well-realised and detailed.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    Dark animation exploring the human condition.
  • Desearía (2010)
    Review preview for Desearía

    It channels a universally familiar kind of grief and yearning with which any viewer will easily be able to identify.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    A woman contemplates her grief.
  • De Luce 1: Vegetare (2009)
    Review preview for De Luce 1: Vegetare

    Hand-processed super8 film makes patterns, colours, shapes that raise questions about technique, origin, which remain unanswered.

    Andrew Robertson · 2 out of 5
    Super 8/digital hybrid experimental film, exploring use of colour.
  • Did You Ever ... (2002)
    Angry girl picks up hitchhiker and gives him a bad time.
  • Directed By Tweedie (2014)
    Review preview for Directed By Tweedie

    Affectionate, engaging, and a great indicator of talent.

    Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
    The filmmaker's grandfather learns about films by making one.
  • Disability Swimming (2011)
    Review preview for Disability Swimming

    Sharp editing manages to put across the relaxing aspects of the day at the same time as conveying the joy of volunteering.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A short documentary about the experiences of a volunteer helping out at a local swimming pool.
  • The Doctor (2002)
    Energetic pop video.
  • Document Shorts 2 (2006)
    Collection of documentaries, shown at the EIFF.
  • Does God Play Football? (2003)
    A young footie fan prays for a dad.
  • Dog Altogether (2007)
    Review preview for Dog Altogether

    Mullan, as usual, blends his trademark emotional rawness and understatement of gesture to powerful effect.

    Dylan Matthew · 4 out of 5
    A man has to deal with the outcome of his rage. Screening alongside Somers Town at many venues.
  • The Dog Who Was A Cat Inside (2003)
    The dog, with the cat inside, meets a cat, with a dog inside.
  • Dog Years (2004)
    A dog tells his life story.
  • Dollface (2013)
    Review preview for Dollface

    There's a good amount of self-awareness within the film, and well-portrayed self-realisation for the characters.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    Visiting her boyfriend's apartment for the irs time, a young woman encounters his collection of dolls.
  • Dolls Haus (2006)
    Review preview for Dolls Haus

    Hammond's work - and imagination - clearly show potential.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A stop-motion doll plays a surreal visit to a house.
  • Done In (2014)
    Review preview for Done In

    A suicide-note rumination on life and loss, memory and mortality.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    A man writes a suicide note.
  • Don't Ever Change (2017)
    Review preview for Don't Ever Change

    Indy favourite Mosley is on top form as the overreaching fan, who doesn't quite know what he's getting into, and Williams' ability to switch emotions in a heartbeat is a treat to watch.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A woman's fan has an unusual request.
  • Doodle Disaster (2007)
    Review preview for Doodle Disaster

    What the film lacks in production values it makes up for with inventive plotting.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Things quickly get out of hand for three kids after a picture provides a portal to another world.
  • The Door Stop (2005)
    The inner rage of a small, bald bouncer.
  • Doughnuts (2013)
    Review preview for Doughnuts

    This is an excellent film.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    A marriage comes under strain due a pregnancy and the presence of a rival - a shiny new BMW.
  • Down The Road (2007)
    Review preview for Down The Road

    A frantic, classic piece, with a sting in the tail.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    A dark thriller about a vicar who picks up a hitchhiker.
  • Dragoon (2013)
    Review preview for Dragoon

    Phenix's preference for close-ups and blurred backgrounds effectively captures the claustrophobia of the forest and its apparent endlessness.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A young Scottish soldier finds himself alone after parachuting into war torn France.
  • A Dream From The Bath (1988)
    Review preview for A Dream From The Bath

    A thought-provoking 22 minutes.

    Rebecca Naughten · 3.5 out of 5
    Response to the 1985 Films Act.
  • Drink Me (2005)
    A podgy bloke comes home to find his flat full of bottles of beer.
  • Dropping Off Michael (2014)
    Review preview for Dropping Off Michael

    We're given enough to guess, and it's more powerful for it.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    Michael attempts to enjoy his last night of freedom, but his uncle is up to something.
  • Druckbolzen (2003)
    A Kafkaesque vision of meaningless work.
  • Dubbed & Dangerous (2001)
    Parody of badly made Hong Kong martial arts movies.
  • The Duke of Goo (2003)
    A modern-day bogeyman stalks the urban jungle at night.
  • Dust (2010)
    Review preview for Dust

    This is an alternate reality, let us say, but a convincing one.

    Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
    The unexpected predicament of Apollo 18 astronaut Glen Gordon.
  • Dysenchanted (2004)
    Happy endings take work.

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