Review: Twilight (2005)

Directed by: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor | 5 minutes | drama, short film | Actors: Janet Wilson, Maurice Richardson, Thelma Stuart, June Wylie, Allan Flint

The ‘Twilight’ from the short film collection ‘Civic Life’ by filmmakers Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor is a film that has a simple content, but gives it a nice effect with exciting shots and timing. In addition, it is a film that is not unnecessarily long and therefore has no time to lose its hand. An original film again, despite the well-known method of filming the whole story in a single shot.

It is the dramatic tension of the film and the almost immediately present special atmosphere, which breed goodwill among the viewer early on when seeing ‘Twilight’. When we see a somewhat older woman standing on a ferry on the English River Tyne in the evening, with a group of four peers behind her, the viewer does not know what is going on, but it is clear that something is “wrong”, and that this is not a simple pleasure trip. The woman looks somewhat tense and depressed, and keeps a close eye on her surroundings. No one is talking and only the roar of the ferry can be heard, until the woman suddenly asks the driver to turn the vessel around and stop it.

Then it becomes clear, with only the faces of the four friends in the picture, what all this is to do, namely an important and dramatic announcement for which a special moment and special place has been selected. The reactions of her friends are interesting to watch – at times perhaps surprising – as are the decisions the female protagonist makes in this film. Tension is effectively created by keeping the viewer guessing for a long time as to what is going on, and the shot choices also provide a captivating perspective on the dramatic revelations. A tight and solid film, this ‘Twilight’.