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Short Film Review: Dark Inside (2020) by Prabu Ganisakran

A man awakens as a prisoner in a small isolated room, realizing he is being interrogated for the death of a young child. Initially in denial, memories of an alter ego begin to emerge and the man comes to a troubling realization.

” is a horrible mess of a film, showcasing a profound misunderstanding of technical production and a dangerously adept attempt at a ‘dark' narrative. Regarding the technical production, there is a large degree of inconsistency in sound quality, lighting and complimentary camera work. The production uses an overly muddy pallet, which does little to obscure the poor acting of filming someone slightly banging the walls in a corner of a poorly lit room. The biggest misstep in the audio come in the clash of recorded and dubbed vocals. For example, within one scene a cast member is dubbed over in post, most likely the result of the actor speaking too softly, at an obnoxiously loud volume in comparison to the garbled words of the remaining cast. The divide in quality is so sever that some lines become indistinguishable and certain words are lost. Overall, the visuals and audio quality are horrendous, showing a need to go back and learn or relearn the basics.

Unfortunately for the production, the presentation is the least of its concerns, when putting forth a lazy and problematic narrative. The main issue comes from the ‘darker half' manifesting as a cross-dressing murderer (possibly rapist) of children. When given this as the crux of the narrative, it is a plot device that would be hard for a competent director to handle, let alone an amateur. Regardless of the directors' intent, it gives the impression of misogynistic, homophobic, trans-phobic, and a plethora of other closed minded views. To be clear, this misguided narrative seems to come more from a lack of awareness and ineptitude in scripting, than an actual reflection on the creators beliefs.

“Dark Inside” shows a lack of understanding of the basics of making films, and a sloppy narrative that is easy to misconstrue as hateful. There are no redeeming factors within the film, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who could derive any degree of entertainment from the production.

About the author

Adam Symchuk

Adam Symchuk is a Canadian born freelance writer and editor who has been writing for Asian Movie Pulse since 2018. He is currently focused on covering manga, manhwa and light novels having reviewed hundreds of titles in the past two years.

His love of film came from horror and exploitation films from Japan that he devoured in his teens. His love of comics came from falling in love with the works of Shuzo Oshimi, Junji Ito, Hideshi Hino, and Inio Asano but has expanded to a general love of the medium and all its genres.

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