The lack of quality and sound detracts from the interesting storyline in The Waiting Place.
Shahriar Shafiani’s The Waiting Place was relatable, but lacked the quality needed to make it a stand-out film.
The film tells the story of a struggling writer who awaits a phone call after a job interview. The man, desperate to find work, waits around in his apartment contemplating his future.
The narrative short film was featured in the “How We Feel” block, which was centered around human emotions. In the film, the man is desperate for a job. He acts as if the world will end if he does not receive good news. The audience picks up on this desperation quickly, because when he goes back to his apartment, he smokes many cigarettes, jumps whenever the phone rings and even looks up a tutorial on how to tie a noose. The film does does a good job of capturing the person’s frustrated and depressed demeanor.
Compared to the other films in the block, The Waiting Place lacked in video quality. The film was not shot in a high resolution, which caused the picture to be blurry. The picture looked very old-fashioned, and it was very similar to watching an old, black-and-white film. If this film was not surrounded by other high-quality short films, it would have been slightly better. It was hard to go from seeing a pristine picture to a fuzzy one.
There was also a lot of white noise in the background, which was very distracting. There was not a lot of dialogue in the film, so the spaces that were empty could have been filled with more dialogue or instrumentals.
The Waiting Place could have been made with better quality film, but the story was inventive and relatable. A film about a guy waiting for a phone call sounds boring, but Shafiani makes the plotline interesting with his attention to detail. Most people have been frustrated or have felt as if their world was ending. The anticipation of waiting for that one phone call is enough to drive anyone insane. The film connects with the audience on a personal level.
Rating: 2.5/5
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