Invertemate

A worm loving scientist gets a very unexpected new friend when a cosmic chain of events in the lab leads to a DR DOOLITTLE type send up and the conversation begins.

Making the most of someone actually caring about him, unlike his boss Erica, our lead quickly developed a great ride (the slide) or die bond with his slimy friend who explained that the connection between the races was much greater than we realised.

The showdown was ok, but I think the meat of the film was in its character development in the middle of the film. Absolutely terrific final birds eye view shot, though I did feel that whist the voice acting was good, the sound scape generally made it feel like the worm's voice was coming from off camera which was slightly distracting for mine.

Story: 3.5/5
Technical: 3/5
Elements: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

A really great little 48Hour film here. Delightful character work and convincing lead performance, and a visually very potent final shot as a cherry on top.

Loved when he did the worm! Bruh

Meme Teme reviews are always troublesome for me. I've seen the core of this group go through their angsty teen phase and they have a habit of remembering things I said about their 48hr films from many moons ago - and holding them against me. That, and being forever falsely accused of not teaching them about white balance. A promise is a promise though and so here's Uncle Stu's review of "Invertemate". What an annoying title. :)

This film has a very Meme Temey feel about it. A supernatural worm that strikes up a friendship with the researcher who dug him out of the ground and in the end is capable of Kurt-level philosophical musings. Sheep, other animals, now worms - it's all very Meme Teme. They go the extra level with things. Most of the camerawork is great - especially inside the lab where the lighting has been skillfully crafted with obvious care- the benefit of having an industry pro on your team. :) The story is also very sweet, the dialogue is mostly well written and your lead did a fantastic job working next to a rubber worm (or was it more sugary?) The film is well-edited too and flows along. I do see the point made about the voice-over; it does feel a little too clean and removed from the scene.

Uncle Stu's advice? I think the stand-out character was Erica. I would have based more scenes around her and perhaps the jealousy she has for our lead's relationship with the worm or her being the lead in this and just hell-bent on destruction. Something she's maybe observed on the sly. I think she needed building a bit more to really make the ending pay off. More a battle of wits between the two with the worm at the centre may have given more to the story, given opportunities for greater conflict and even humour! So, even though you claim to be retiring from writing, Samantha, maybe next year strip things back, simplify and concentrate on your characters. Or, go full Swixer on it and break out the whipped cream.

"Invertemate" is a film lots of people rate though which is a pat on the back for the Meme Teme.

I loved how this opened with an intense and very funny bullying scene. It set up the back story and character and was funny/self aware. Awesome film team.

It's heartwarming to see a team like Meme Teme take on feedback and generally improve their filmmaking year to year.

Last year you guys even got on the shortlist, and that's not to say this film isn't an improvement - certainly a lot more is done with this year's premise compared to last year, where your quirky balloon-health-bar story ran out of steam almost immediately - I think the character development and the strengthening of the friendship between the man and the worm was really effective and on a basic level just shows that your storytelling is improving and your conscious of what makes a good story.

I think I would have liked to see a little more effort gone into the worm itself though, I initially thought it was a gummy worm but I think it might be a toy or a board game piece? Anyway, I feel like this film would have been better with a real worm, or at least a convincing puppet - I was constantly distracted by the clearly fake worm and it blocked my immersion.

Also, I'm fascinated and frustrated by the fact that the worm has a speech impediment in which he elongates his W's. Why? Because worm starts with w? This is so stupid and dumb but I think you guys love making creative decisions like that which are still fun.

Good use of locations too, I deeply appreciate all the different places this film goes to, and the performance from Erica was delightfully wooden.

Prediction: Meme Teme will make the finals next year. It's only a matter of time.

Challenge for next year: You're getting so much better than where you were only a few years ago - keep digging into storytelling and figure out what stories you want to tell. I'd even recommend practicing outside of 48Hours, make Meme Teme a year-round gig!