Short Film Review: "Outbreak" (2020)
Outbreak Short Film Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Written and Directed by Alex Magaña
2020, 3 minutes and 26 seconds, Not Rated
Available on YouTube
The word “outbreak” is a dirty word here in the year 2020. We’re living in the middle of a pandemic. Do you know what the cure is? I do- it’s horror. No genre of film is as cathartic as horror, after all. We can face a fear, immerse ourselves in it completely, and walk away safely. When it works well, as is the case with writer/director Alex Magaña’s (Slapped! The Movie, What Love Looks Like) latest short film entitled Outbreak, we might just find a small measure of relief for these uncertain times we’re all fighting through.
An nerdy looking fellow sits at his computer in his upstairs bedroom. He’s watching a show called “Conspiracy Files”. The host is a loudly charismatic man proclaiming that aliens are finally here. He shows a series of video clips, each more horrifying than the last. In the clips, people are shown standing in the streets- sometimes alone, sometimes in groups- staring at the sky. They then emit a robotic-sounding cross between a howl and a bark before turning and attacking those recording them. It’s freaky stuff, but the nerd isn’t buying it. He comments that it’s a bunch of fake bullshit. Then he goes and looks out his own window. Why are there people lined up in his street? Are they…are they pointing at him?!
Outbreak presents a classic alien invasion archetype in the style and framing of the 21st century YouTube/Twitter/Facebook/Tik-Tok world we’re living in. That’s important, too- we all feel pretty alienated right now, and if it were to go down it would probably look a lot like this. When the nerd-boy posts his comment, he’s basically alerted the invaders to his presence. There’s a statement, a bit of social commentary, running underneath that’s hard to ignore- you’re reaching out even from the safety of your own home, so make sure that you’re not reaching out to the wrong people. In a world where you’re always being watched, don’t go making it any easier. The message is so subtle that you could easily miss it, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful.
The ending of nerd-boy’s story is really creepy. The shot of the abnormally long-armed intruder that shows up at his bedroom door, seen only in silhouette and arriving immediately after the line of people on his street point at him gives you a legitimate chill up your spine. Like everything else in Outbreak, you’re mesmerized by the scene and then BAM! The danger is in your grill. It’s wonderfully effective.
Closing out with the various news broadcasts is also a nice touch- it gives a panorama of various scenarios involving all manner of people in different settings. The close highlights the real potential for stories to be told in this world, either as an anthology or focusing on one set of characters. They say a short film is essentially a “job application” for something longer. I would hire Alex Magaña on the spot. His eye for horror, already shown in his previous excellent short entitled “The Smiling Woman”, is sharp and ready to bring us something feature-length.
I mean, you can’t have too much escapist horror in a world that’s already so full of the real shit. Am I right?
