Pazu Who?

Great use of music/sound effects and fun ending.

Demonic possession is no laughing matter and yet here we are. Questions of good taste and sound quality aside, this focuses on the lighter side of what can be a taboo subject. You can hear the lead actor’s fake teeth fall out of his mouth at one point - not impressed.

Documentary style shorts is always a fun way to story tell and throwing in humour is a great mix.
Especially when the MC is a demon. *SPOILERS*

For some reason I was hoping that the Pazu would give the cross to the host, but the sound guy had me knocked off my chair!

Amazing work from your make-up artist and the bachelor take was hilarious.

Raks

RS Productions

This film made me laugh, and the main actor was brilliant. I loved the Bachelor concept.

A reality TV show borrowing heavily from The Bachelor. While it does all of those things you'd expect from a parody of RTV there in lies the problem, right? We see so many of these that along with mockumentaries they're kind of tired and there's no real story - his only conflict is battling over who to choose with even his final choice feeling like it was a well-trodden twist. We're just ticking off the RTV tropes. Was there another vehicle you could have told a more engaging story through? Tech is mostly good with only a couple of sound wobbles here and there. I like the match cut but it was also telegraphed so also no real surprises.

Overall, good performances, pretty well-made but just not that rewatchable.

What I liked:
Blown away by Charlie Gates's performance here. There's a criticism above about his fake teeth, but man I cannot imagine Pazuzu being as compelling if his mouth didn't sound so jampacked the whole time hahah. My favourite line was when he was playing tennis and gleefully explains "this is just sort of what a normal day for me looks like". Not only did I not know Charlie was such a powerhouse performer, but I think he elevates the film so much.

What I didn't like:
Well, if you plucked Charlie out of the film, I think I'd have had a much harder time getting on board something as, let's say, "quaint", as a parody of The Bachelor in 2024 48Hours hahah. I reckon Bachelor Parodies sit next to Mockumentaries and Rehab movies as maybe the most over-visited concept in the competition this year, and it was a bit odd to see considering Olax are often a team that exhibit such original ideas. Luckily Charlie is there though, and his acting is so good is genuinely won me over to a film I'd have otherwise written off.

Something else I liked:
Another thing working in its favour actually is the pacing, for all my problems which the approach, this film gets in and gets out and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's a delivery vessel for a brilliant comedic performance and some great one-liners and demon gags - like a read salted chip dipped in a delicious salsa.

*Meant to say "over the years" not "this year" re: Bachelor parodies.