A young boy visits a friend while in a panic. His cousin is on the way with a message that can have dire consequences on his future. The boy turns to his female friend, who is studying psychology, to figure out a way to deal with the cousin's visit. She decides to employ a method she learned called “E H D”. She employs this psychological trick in order to try and save her friend.
“EHD” excels most in its creation of authentic dialogue. The way that the characters interact with each other has a certain degree of familiarity and realism between them. However, where this starts to fall short is in establishing the characters on a deeper level. Although the arguments mimic the real life drama well, when looking at storytelling, there needs to be some sort of reasoning behind the conflict in order to create interest. Within the short film, we get a lot of people arguing, but we don't understand why they got to the level where they are able to talk to each other on such an abrasive level. It is hard to understand the relationship of anyone to each other, so their actions become a bit confusing and lack greater depth. For example, the cousin in the film treats the main character in a rude and mean manner. However, if his cousin just berates our protagonist, why is he even a part of the boy's life, and why does the cousin's opinion matter in the first place? It is questions like this that should be addressed to an audience to present developed characters worth investing
The film script does have one noticeable flaw which I feel is important to mention. Although “EHD” does end up standing for something else by the end of production, it is first used as a psychological term. However, this is not an actual form of therapy that would be utilized by refutable therapists. How it plays out is rather troublesome and would be detrimental to someones mental health if used in the guise of “Therapy”. The female lead who employs this method could have done so without having stated she was “studying psychology”. Although in any given film, the makers don't need to have an expert knowledge on all subjects they approach, when dealing certain subjects some caution and research should be employed. The female lead could have just been a trustworthy, intuitive woman, and her actions would have been more acceptable and avoided entering the realm of pseudo-psychology.
Technically, the film suits the story well, maintaining intimate conversations in a small space with a camera that gives a “fly on the wall feeling”. The acting serves the film well, with the actors working towards the production's strength of creating tense dialogue. There is a certain degree of inexperience shown through the performances, but this becomes passable given the limited experience. The audio quality is pretty well managed, with the exception of a single bang that takes place within the film that needed to be toned down. Overall, the technical aspects show an emerging filmmaker who has the base to expand on further productions.
“E H D” although showing a knack for strong written conversations, lacks a personable appeal by leaving tense discussions free of context. I found myself a bit frustrated by the story, as I feel a few lines of characters showing sincerity, or establishing their bonds, would have gone a long way to making a more coherent narrative. The technical side, although rough, is well handled in the format of short film. Sumit Saurav, appears to be a filmmaker who will only grow given time if he can learn to better establish his characters, or if his knack for realistic dialogue could produce something interesting.
