The 2024 deadCenter Episodics Showcase Genre-Defying Pilots
Every great show starts somewhere. This year’s deadCenter Episodics features short films that allude to long-form narratives that demand to be told. This year’s collection of distinct and compelling pilots includes four genre-defying entries and a slew of fascinating characters.
Body Snatchers
Nathan Colby’s Body Snatchers follows a freshly transferred med student, Eli (Adam Narimatsu). The reaper seems to keep following him a week after his grandma dies. Soon, Eli falls into a graverobbing scheme involving his bombastic anatomy teacher (Chris Catalano) and the funeral home’s director (India Coombs) after he tries to casually cremate a cat he recently struck. Body Snatchers hones in on the frailty of life while delivering a black comedy that’s as morbid as it is sharp. Vibrant performances from three exceptional leads give the series its hook. Meanwhile, its ending begs questions that demand an entire season and then some.
Vasectomy
In Andrew Bachelor’s Vasectomy, three desperate roommates steal a school bus and try to extract an empathy-blocking implant from one of the more affluent student’s shoulders. And then things get really, really fucked up. Bachelor’s work feels like an adult animated comedy coming to life, leaning into the zany, violent, and absurd. The bulk of its humor lands, almost entirely at the expense of the grossly underprepared hijackers. The stakes seem high, yet every misfire sends the plot in a more hilarious — and incredibly stupid — direction. The pilot’s only true fault is a frankly weak and abrupt ending.
Movers
Alexander Ershov’s Movers (aka Karma Movers) is an existential sci-fi drama with a deeply emotional heart. After Vitya (Danil Steklov) unexpectedly dies, he wakes up to find himself alongside Borya (Philip Ershov). Together, they embark on a quest of reincarnation to boost their karma and hopefully achieve a peaceful afterlife. Movers maintains an excellent sense of motion and stays accessible despite a plot akin to a pacifist’s take on Gantz. Even so, this pilot feels like the lone entry that might serve better as a feature-length film. That’s not to say the conclusion doesn’t evoke intrigue. Rather, its new-life-a-week premise feels like it could start treading water within a few episodes.
Who’s Annie
From the minds of Annie Sicherman and Sophia Peer, Who’s Annie? is a meaningful, though sometimes hard-to-follow comedy about a director and her gruff lead chasing the next big hit. Annie is a larger-than-life character. Yet for years she’s been relegated to easily missed — and often uncredited — roles on Orange Is the New Black, Billions, and more. Sophia, on the other hand, struggles to channel her artistic vision into something more fulfilling than fast-food commercials. After Sophia discovers Annie, the director tries to make a show that places her in the lead roles she perpetually misses.
This approach mostly works, though it overly concerns itself with a meta critique of filmmaking that, while not invalid, could be tempered in favor of focusing on its titular character. On that note, Annie’s delivery is raw, down-to-earth, and ultimately proves the real-life actor deserves a more prominent role. Ultimately, Who’s Annie? might not be the best long-term vehicle for Sicherman. Even so, it exceeds at showcasing the performer’s range and builds a strong case for why she deserves exponentially more visible roles.
Find more deadCenter 2024 coverage like this recap of the deadCenter Episodics only at The Cinematropolis.
