My entry into the STAR contest. The film follows a criminal who is caught by the police and then placed in an "Unreal cell". The film was intended to be longer, but was cut short due to the film deadline.
Unreal cell
Content Advisory: mild violence.
Director's Comments
Staff Review
Graeme Allen:
Unreal Cell starts out as a fairly acceptable action film, with some great animation despite the very obvious sticky-tac. However, the film changes genre gears fairly quickly when the character is captured by the police and thrown into the "Unreal Cell"; suddenly, the film appears to be, could it be, a comedy? We are never given any explanation for the events in the film (aside from the director's comments about it), so the police could easily be interpreted as assassins and the criminal could be some average joe who they "have to get". The Unreal Cell it's self is no less confusing; the "criminal" is bombarded with illusions which may or may not be tangible, but the character never stops to wonder "Why the heck is this happening to me?" or "What is going on?" After the final illusion, we are left wondering if the character has gone mad in this cell, or actually likes the place because it gives him some nice things. Overall, Unreal Cell is a thoroughly confusing film with some good animation and set design which makes it fun to watch at least once, but probably not much more than that.
