Enter the Room is a short, well-crafted thriller from Harry Waldman
by Nav Qateel
The short mystery thriller, Enter the Room, examines mental illness and loneliness in its compact fifteen-minute run time. I’ll admit, I tend to expect a bit less from shorts that tend to have money constraints, etc.; however, Enter the Room, directed by Harry Waldman, no stranger to filmmaking, is gripping from the onset and clearly crafted with a love of the art and skilled hands.
With remarkably convincing acting from the two main stars, Rich Holton (Alex/October 2022) and Peter Mastne (Transformation 2023), playing brothers Jeremy and Brian respectively, the siblings are forced to share a small apartment for a time, while we witness tensions brewing and tempers fray.
This scenario is something that perhaps many siblings have found themselves in, as I myself have, making the short film something that most people will instantly find relatable.
The writing shines through as though director Waldman himself has some experience dealing with the horrors of mental illness, as we open on elder brother Brian displaying higher-end OCD behavior while he waits on Jeremy turning up. Upon arrival, Brian demands Jeremy pay towards bills and then follows to complain about everything imaginable.
I’m sure I saw something like this on an episode of Roommates from Hell, so you can imagine what poor Jeremy is facing. Foreshadowing clues us in that all is not as it seems, and while it wasn’t always as subtle as I’d have liked, the audience weren’t led by the nose either.
My only negative, which is minor, was the shaky camera choice towards the closing of this entertaining and thought-provoking effort, and one could argue that it actually matters naught in the grand scheme of things.
Out of the many short films I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing, Enter the Room is for sure on the higher end. Yes, it was made on a budget, however shooting it entirely in an apartment allowed for the film to appear more expensive, with solid acting choices to boot.
Well penned, well acted, well shot, Enter the Room is an easy film to recommend. Additionally, at fifteen-minutes, the pacing was also on-point and ended precisely when it needed to. I’m now forced to seek out the director’s other works to see is they also entertain to the same level. Any fan of short film will be well served with this creation.
Nav’s Grade: B+
