Most folks don’t acknowledge things unless they’re forced to.
The batch of Oklahoman short films featured in deadCenter 2020’s Okie Shorts Mix-Tape Vol. 2 exchanges the slow-burn of its sister collection with high-octane intensity. Tension, wit, and painful reflection clash across eight more pieces from local filmmakers.
Zachary Burns’s “Home Sweet Home” kicks off the collection with a bang as a woman (Ashley Mandanas) is terrorized by an unseen presence. The atmosphere of the film is well placed, and its light-hearted nature never waivers into outright hokiness. Mandanas’s performance is exceptional (further solidified in Jacob Burns’s Shifter) and her look of sheer terror lingers long after the film’s exclamative ending.
Sam Brown’s “Party Magic” pits an unassuming magician against a crazed illusionist trying to uncover the secret of the world’s most elusive trick. Jon Lee Richardson and Andrew Tyrell-Smith are uproarious in this one-sided battle of wits. The comedy is contagious and serves as a welcome reprieve amid the collection’s heavier installments.
Chris Oz McIntosh’s “Ballbusted” was a bit too brief to get a good handle on, but the tendency for jackassess to be jackasses rings true as two brothers argue to oblivion during a stakeout. The piece gets bonus points for dipping into the never-ending well of ribs that are Nickleback jokes.
Benjamin Tefera’s “Feel So Good” feels disjointed by design. While preparing for an outing with a few friends, Omi (Grayson Dunn) is hypnotized by Valentine (Ben White) and coerced into an unconscious night of debauchery and mayhem. The film’s experimental narrative fits well within its short runtime, but it does feel like it could have explored more given its premise. A composition by Slyrex helps the piece’s more hectic moments gain some balance.
Charles Elmore’s “The Chest” is a witty and powerful piece about karmic justice. After Jessica (Danielle Evon Ploeger), a high-end real estate agent, is chastised one too many times by her pompous boss (Dylan Baker), she is forced to conceal his untimely demise and close on an important sale. The film’s leads are expertly written and Jessica’s plight feels like a modern fable. Baker’s portrayal of the aforementioned boss is as disgusting as he is hilarious, whereas Ploeger’s Jessica is adaptive yet unassuming. “The Chest” is outstanding across both Mix Tapes.
Zachary Wincik’s “Guessing Game” considers how logging off can sometimes prove disastrous as a couple (Sarah Mills, Ricco Fajardo) has dinner with a long lost friend (Josiah Overstreet). The film’s dark turn is abrupt, but still feels earned via its clever final moments a la Black Mirror. “Guessing Game” is also notable for one of the most inventive credit sequences from this year’s festival.
Brandon Jyrome Jones’s “Justin” is, without question, this year’s most timely and hard-hitting Oklahoman short film. A reenactment of a young black man’s death at the hands of police, “Justin” illustrates a narrative that plagues the country to the point of a very recent fever pitch. Placed in the shadow of Tulsa’s Race Massacre, the film brings to light the long term trauma systemic racism has afflicted. The performances of LaRonn Marzett and Kode Ransom drive the realism of the piece. The impact of “Justin” lingers far beyond its 12-minute runtime.
Okie Shorts Mix Tape Vol. 2’s final entry, McKinleigh Lair’s “You Know the Drill” is another film that wrestles with America’s troubling reality, offering a candid look at active shooter drills as they vary from kindergarten to high school students. Against the footage of response drills, a pediatric psychologist stressed the damage such procedures can wreck against children. The piece is alarming yet necessary and stresses that our inherent response to tragedy isn’t always the most sound.
You can buy tickets to Volume 1 and/or Volume 2 of the Okie Shorts Mixtape until midnight on Sunday, June 21st on the deadCenter website.
