Things are getting crazy over at Pomme Productions! The studio’s new short film, The Barn, left me wondering what the Hell I just watched… and that’s a good thing! With so many cut-and-paste horror films on the market, I can applaud any director and supporting team that dares to step outside the box and come up with something truly original. And although The Barn is full of American Horror Story type imagery and it captures true summer vibes, it is just that – original. The 18-minute mini-movie finds a man experiencing increasingly disturbing dreams of raw chicken after the mysterious disappearance of his sister. Written, directed, produced and featuring cinematography by Damon Nash White, The Barn is releasing on October 28th 2021 with a sneak peek screening happening in Houston, Texas here. This is why you should check it out.
The Barn has no dialogue, no spoken word; with only its unholy visions, musical scores and emotive performances from the cast telling its story. To me, that always reminds me of when cinema was starting to develop and projects were produced with title cards instead of a script. This does, however, paint an increasingly difficult dilemma for the director – because without the right mastermind behind the wheel, The Barn could have gone off the rails quite easily. Luckily, Damon Nash White seems to know what he was doing and I was able to follow along with the narrative most of the time. Again, most of the time, because The Barn is also nothing short of weird. Just when you think you know what’s going on – you don’t. This works in its favor, though, as the things we don’t understand tend to scare us the most.
Produced by Cory Sinclair and featuring editing by Mitchell Dequillettes and Damon Nash White, The Barn stars Justice Tirapelli-Jamail, Rocio De La Grana, Nic Smith and Miguel Sandoval. I think it’s safe to say that I have absolutely no qualms with this production in terms of actors’ performances and behind-the-scenes work. Honestly, the quality of work was much higher than I was expecting out of an indie short film. And let me not forget to mention the special effects for “the head” were absolutely astounding. This is the reason why I love reviewing indie films, because you never know what hidden gems you’re going to find. Like this one! It’s like The Fly and Split had a mute baby. Engrossing from start to finish, The Barn will make you more sick to your stomach than a twin bed full of raw chicken.
Final Score: 8 out of 10.
