Rob Munday

A film about nicknames, differences and animosity, Simon Pontén and Joakim Behrman’s surreal dark-comedy The Owl uses a bizarre and twisted (literally) incident to tackle how quickly individuals can bond together over a shared hatred or disgust of something. Described by its co-creators as a “slow cataclysmic journey into the dark core of humans trying to have a good time together”, this eight-minute short highlights how quickly a little bit of fun can descend into something much more sinister and disturbing.

Opening with a rather deep conversation about our relationship with death, for the teachers relaxing in their staff room at work, their day is about to take an unexpected diversion when the titular “Owl” enters the scene. Goaded into demonstrating his admittedly unsettling “party trick”, from which his nickname derives, the mood takes a dark turn when his colleagues react badly to his reveal, labelling him a “freak” and “some kind of monster”. Even if the film’s title may give a few too many clues to what is about to happen, it doesn’t make it any less effective.

“We made it because of our soft spot for social situations gone bad”

With the premise of The Owl originating after co-director Behrman bought a paper owl statue at a flea market, the directorial duo admit they were drawn to the storyline because of a “soft spot for social situations gone bad”. A dark-comedy, with an emphasis on the dark (I think I’ve used the term “dark” in every paragraph so far, so that’ll give you an idea of how…well…dark things get!), although The Owl orbits around an absurd incident, the genuine setting and authentic performances result in the film have a real-world impact.

Though at first, watching the actions of the Owl you may also be somewhat unnerved by what you’ve witnessed, Pontén and Behrman cleverly proceed this with an equally upsetting scene, as his colleagues round on him with a collective fury which quickly threatens to get out of hand. Research has shown that people tend to band together when shared negative emotions are involved and this is certainly the case with the shocked teachers in The Owl. Though they provoke their reluctant colleague to reveal his “stunt”, through cries of “Uggla, Uggla, Uggla” (Swedish for Owl), the moment he is exposed they turn on him like a pack of wolves, feeding on the revulsion of each other, hungry for retribution.

“That was the most vile thing that I have ever seen” – a colleague reacts to the incident.

It makes for a powerful watch. At first, it feels like a film served only by its twist (again, that feels like such a perfect word in this instance), but the mixture of emotions it provokes means there’s more depth to it than that. The Owl is labelled a monster, but like some of the most famous beasts from storytelling (King Kong, Frankenstein’s Monster) we empathise with him and are haunted by his treatment. Who are characters we should be frightened of here? A man with an unusual physical trait or the “mob” who can only deal with this difference by attacking him? I know whose side I’m on…”Uggla, Uggla, Uggla” (those are cries of support!).

Shot on Alexa mini and cut on Adobe Premiere, The Owl is a fine-looking film, full of impressive performances. Pontén and Behrman look to continue working together on their next short Inferno, a film they describe as “still focusing on people trying to have a good time, but failing miserably”.