Swine

June 19, 2012 - The Film Snob - No Comments

Site Score

6.9

Good: Good concept, acting, production value for the budget

Bad: Overused dialogue and generic storyline

User Score

9.0

(4 votes)

Click to vote

Rating: 9.0/10 (4 votes cast)

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A short that left me wanting more. Writer/director Daniel Levitch’s twelve minute effort lacks subtlety and is riddled with cliches including previously overused dialog, situations, and style. However I could not help falling in love with this effort that ends on a cliff-hanger of sorts. It isn’t the most original of ideas, but the execution on minimal budget, (less than $5000) is strong. There are some hearty acting performances (Osa Wallander and Drew Hinckley for example) from the primary players and attention to detail on costumes and props (all custom made) shows a passion for the art of good production design as well as dedication and drive to do the best possible job despite the financial constraints on the project.

The director describes the plot of the current trilogy as “A post-apocalyptic war story about a rebel faction on the brink of destroying themselves from within; the trilogy focuses on the perspectives of three main characters, one film for each.”

The first chapter has been followed by two more installments that can now be seen on their official YouTube channel, and the producers recently announced that a new chapter of SWINE is now ‘in the can’.

The first chapter has some flaws that need to be overlooked to gain the maximum enjoyment of the overall short. These flaws, of course, are largely due to the budgetary restrictions that have squeezed production. I should point out that although the script and delivery by the players is impressive, I do feel that it could do with a small polish to remove some of the cliches and inject a bit of freshness. If you like sci-fi/action thrillers then SWINE is a must-watch from this promising director and his production team.

Swine, 9.0 out of 10 based on 4 ratings

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Nic Baisley is the owner of FilmSnobbery, is an advocate and passionate speaker for indie film, a film reviewer, and the host of the web broadcast series FilmSnobbery Live! Nic also offers his services as an independent film consultant whose passion is giving a voice to independent content creators.