Many Happy Returns

Creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy,creepy movie. I loved it!! :D

Following a very recent family death, a birthday cake complete with candle is presented. "Make a wish" and the rest is history. Although of course there's no such thing as a free lunch, and so oneiric J-Horror makeup and backyard burials become the order of the day much to the chagrin of our protagonist. Strong screen presence from the lead actress given very little dialogue, and engaging audio ambiance this was very much a foreboding folktale that I imagine would affect anyone who has lost somebody close to them. The only thing is that I swear I've read this exact folk-tale/ghost story previously.

This was cool. I would have preferred if the characters had dealt with the drama of coming back from the dead. Keep some mystery but just one shady conversation would have made things way more dramatic. I got some Les Revenants vibes and thats a good thing.

A young girl blows out the candle on a birthday cake in a silent house filled with the sadness of recent lost. Her wish returns her sister to life, but at what price? This film is beautifully shot and has an amazing soundtrack, hence the nominations in score and cinematography and the sound design win which are much-deserved, along with its place in the Wellington final. The thing that I think sets this film apart is the tone of it. It is creepy and filled with intense foreboding, we feel viscerally that something is wrong but as we move through the story with the main character we are captured by her hope at the return of her sister. This underlying darkness is cleverly controlled and keeps us enthralled throughout. The only point of improvement is that the ending didn't feel surprising and it kind of just plays out as expected. Its still a beautifully put together short though and I commend what is a new team to the competition on putting together something so slick and tonally confident.