Best Man – Micro Short Indie Film Review

Today’s film is the 2017 British micro comedy short film Best Man written and directed by Freddie Hall. The film stars Josh O’Conner, Lizzy Watts and Ben Hall. It is currently featured on thebestmirofilms.com for free with dozens of other Independent short films.

Best Man tells the tale of two old friends at a Pie and Mash shop discussing the previous day’s events. Donald (Josh O’Conner), a socially awkward young man who hates public confrontation tells his best friend Patrick (Ben Hall) that his girlfriend asked him to marry him and to avoid embarrassment he agreed. Patrick is beside himself with happiness for his friend and his joy almost goes through the roof when Donald asks him to be his best man. Things quickly tale a turn for the dark side when Donald needs Patrick to do him a favor, he needs an alibi because he is going to kill his girlfriend. Patrick is alarmed to discover that Donald not only has detailed plans and diagrams on how to do it but how utterly causal he is in talking about murdering his beautiful, smart and charming girlfriend. Things become even more awkward when Jean (Lizzy Watts) returns from the restroom and joins the two at the table. Now Patrick has a choice, go along with his friend’s obvious insanity or warn the innocent and sweet Jean about the danger.

British comedies are a strange breed of film compared to American films. The humor is often dry and subtle (and lets be honest a little more raunchy) which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, that said however Best Man is a real laugh out loud film. While the dialog of the film is brilliantly written it is the facial expressions of actor Ben Hall that really nails the humor of this dark little comedy. His looks of excitement followed by horror and shock are simply wonderful to behold. It is rare for an actor to be as expressive as Hall is without it being over the top and cliché but he manages to pull it off perfectly. Josh O’Conner on the other hand delivers his lines with a deadpan seriousness that nearly borders of the psychotic, just as is intended. His character of Donald just seems like the feel good buddy right up until the shocking twist of wanting to murder his girlfriend and you feel just as shocked as Patrick. This in combination to the wonderful script delivers a one two punch to the viewer that will leave them in stitches for the entire three minute run time.

The film is entirely set in one location, a diner. It is wonderfully well done and really is what you’d expect from a British pie shop with it’s aloof waitstaff and spattering of patrons. It certainly helps bring the air of friendliness to the film that is essential for the plot but never asserts itself intrusively into the scenes. You’d be surprised at how many times in films that this just isn’t the case and something in the background will disrupt the flow and take your attention from the action you are supposed to be watching but Best Man does it properly. This is ever more important when the film is entirely reliant on it’s dialog as there is no action in the feature whatsoever. Normally in films like this your mind as a habit of wandering off to other things because you are so saturated with action films and flashy explosions that you almost have no patience for subtle movies anymore but Best Man keeps your eyes glued to the film with it’s witty banter and absurd plot in a wonderful way.

The production value of this British film is one of the best I have seen from an overseas Independent company. The cinematography is beautifully done with its crystal clear picture and steady camera work. It is shot with just one constant scene at the diner which is actually a lot more difficult than having multiple scenes that are different then the others. This is because there is a lot more things that can go wrong and ruin the film when there is just one scene to be shot and you are under a lot more stress to get it perfectly and Best Man doesn’t disappoint.

The audio work is just as good as the visual department in this film. The tendency of low budget short films of having poor microphones that require the actors to stare directly at the camera is alarmingly common but Best Man doesn’t have this issue. The voices are always clear and audible and despite being a British short film has none of the static common in the productions of films from across the ocean. The musical score is jaunty and humorous as it should be and is very fitting for the theme of the film and the ending title scene is professionally done.

Humor is a very subjective matter as I have said in the past and it is one of the hardest things to review that said however if you like British comedy and unexpected little twists that will leave you smiling then at just over three minutes Best Man has something to offer you. It is witty and a success production wise that it is worth it for anyone wanting to get into the film business to give a look.

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