Chelsea Lupkin
Guy Soulsby’s A SICKNESS is a creeping horror whose masterful articulation of dread seeps under your skin well after watching. A film that plays more like a psychological thriller akin to the likes of David Fincher, Soulsby impressively weaves his narrative into a horror framework that hits all of the right notes of its genre. Subverting expectations and challenging our perceptions of how we view “bad guy” stereotypes, A SICKNESS is a slow-burn that steadily builds unease and leaves you desperately wanting more.
“From the first frame I wanted the audience to dislike this man”
Starring David Langham (His Dark Materials, The Alienist, Doctor Who), who gives an incredible lead performance as a loner governed by routine, A SICKNESS is centered around a main character clearly keeping a dark secret. Soulsby intentionally paints a vivid picture of a man we should dislike, or at the very least, shouldn’t trust. Meticulously peppering clues just out of focus, Soulsby leaves it up to the audience to piece together the mystery, until revealing his “twist” at the very end. “I wanted to write a character whose actions conveyed an evil and sinister stereotype in society that we’ve all read about in the newspaper, but flip that preconceived notion on its head,” explains Soulsby to Short of the Week, “From the first frame I wanted the audience to dislike this man only to realise he might not be so bad after all. I guess the moral ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ could be referenced.”
While the concept of A SICKNESS may initially come across as simple and predictable – I won’t spoil it! – its slick production and thoughtful cinematography, by Michael Paleodimos (Black Sheep), paints a much more sophisticated picture. A fan of modern horror films like Hereditary, It Follows, The Babadook, and Midsommar, Soulsby wanted to create a short that embraced the genre, while still having a sense of normality that would both ground the story and add an undercurrent of tangible dread. Both big fans of David Fincher, Paleodimos and Soulsby embraced the strict method Fincher used when filming Mindhunter.
David Langham as Steven, the short’s “loner” central character.
“We only moved the camera when the character moves or to convey a key moment in the story”, elaborates Soulsby. “Added to this David Langham’s character lives a life ruled by order, he is exact in his actions, so these character traits also informed our filming approach: considered, never rushed and methodical”. Keen on keeping the camera static and letting action play out on screen, Soulsby leaned into locked off shots and moments of pause to create tension while consciously keeping some things off-screen to inspire dread. As the film progresses, A SICKNESS turns more and more into the horror film fans will surely embrace, complete with red accent lighting, ominous television static, and just the right amount of blood.
A SICKNESS is Soulsby’s third short film, after DEVIL MAKES WORK and GOD’S KINGDOM, with the filmmaker now in the early stages of pre-production on his fourth PROVISIONS – a story about an elderly woman who has a visit from a homecare nurse. The writer/director also has another short film in development, SLEEP, which follows a character called Mabel who is awoken by a man wandering around the house at night. Both films sound creepy and we are here for it!