Shelly (Michaela Cooke) is just too afraid to leave her apartment - she
just can't, basically because she fears what might be on the other side of
the door. Oh, she keeps the outside under close observation, mind you,
peeping through her closed jalousins - and there it is, the origin of all
her fears, a stranger wearing a hat. Now there is no reason she's supposed
to be afraid of him, there might be a simple explanation why he's hanging
out in front of her house (like he's from the neighbourhood), and it might
be a host of random strangers just wearing similar hats for all Shelly
knows. She just knows she cannot, she must not face him, ever. Then her
mum contacts her and issues an ultimatum, and now Shelly must be very
brave and face her fears head-on. But will she be able to do so? And what
will she be confronted with on the other side of the door? Set
to a very fitting instrumental number, and without dialogue, this short
manages to bring across agoraphobia quite beautifully, through the fidgety
camerawork especially in the interior shots, the nicely made up set that
represents someone wanting to shut out the outside world, an empathic
directorial effort, clever editing and of course a very believable
central performance. Very nice, actually!
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