"STALLED " Short Film Review

Film Title: STALLED

Writer: Matt Black

Director: Matt Black

Link/URL: https://youtu.be/7mSH86O2qzA?si=r_gjVeU6muNlMHqk

 

Film Review:

In this short film[1], we follow the actor as they go through a psychological drama. The central conflict is between him and the other versions of himself created in parallel paradox within a public restroom. Matt Black[2] chose to use a linear narrative but often lacks moments of linearity to create a focal point of the paradoxical versions of the actor. Short films live or die by pacing. "STALLED" does well by not lingering unnecessarily and because of spatial confinement, pacing is key to keep the audience engaged. The film also uses time compression / real time, so we feel the urgency as if we are there with the character. There are moments where a beat lags just a bit but overall, the sense of “I want to know how this ends” keeps you watching. The actor’s goal is to get out and survive from this room, and that is made clear throughout. This concreteness gives the viewer something to root for. His obstacles are both internal and external. The fear and panic, and the stalls and the locked door are both as important as the other as they make the struggle meaningful and deeper than just what we see. This allows for the protagonist to go through a subtle character transformation, although there’s room for more clarity in moments. At a first look this short film is about physical entrapment, but it explores feeling for stuckness in life and not being able to move forward in life, and the fear of failure or shame where progress may risk judgement, using the stall as a microcosm for bigger existential traps. This short film is successful due to the lack of wasted time, every scene and movement contributes to the tension or narrative. The constrained space maintains narrative and emotional concentration for the viewer, and we naturally become situated within the story, perhaps as another version of him.


[1] STALLED (2022): https://youtu.be/7mSH86O2qzA?si=_8f7i9Pm7gx2bwW- (accessed 07/10/25)

[2] IMDB Entry of the film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22492354/ (accessed 07/10/25)

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