Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Lechuguilla A husband and wife in upscale London embark on separate covert liaisons that may or may not break up their marriage. Amelia (Natasha Powell) and Michael (Anthony Head) appear civil toward each other, with nary a hint of outward strife. But something is wrong between them. What motivates their secretive behavior? What else are they hiding from each other and from us? The viewer must fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle.To the script's credit, characters connect with the audience largely through facial expressions, and through body language in general. Dialogue is wonderfully minimal. Peripheral characters add depth to the drama, and do so without intruding on the story's central focus. What we seem to have here is a story that explores the clash that can occur when commitment to a spouse interferes with, or contradicts, one's commitment to self, when the marriage has become stale.Production values are terrific. Location shooting imparts a sense of realism. Lighting and framing enhance visuals. Cinematography features lots of close-ups, which accent the focus on characters. Casting gives us a photogenic group of people. And the performances of Natasha Powell and Anthony Head help lift the film to a high level of professionalism.My only complaint is the story's slow pace. A number of scenes seem unnecessarily long, given the film's runtime. I could have wished for tighter editing to speed up the action. But that's just me. Other viewers may be happy with a leisurely pace."Amelia and Michael" is a quiet, low-key character drama that seems deliberately enigmatic. I can envision a feature-length film that uses this short as the basis for a Middle Act. In an expanded version the first part of the script would explore back-stories, ancillary characters, motivations and conflicts. The ending would convey the outcome of these forces on Amelia and Michael and related effects on those around them. I love a good mystery. This short film certainly qualifies, and presumably so too would an expanded version.

MartinHafer Occasionally, young filmmakers contact me and ask me to watch their short films. I am nobody that important--just a nutty guy who has done a bazillion reviews on IMDb. I always give the films a viewing, though if I don't like the film I usually don't review them. It's because I don't want to harm a struggling young artist--and a few negative reviews can do that for a short. However, in the case of "Amelia and Michael", I was glad to post a review because it was a thoroughly professional looking piece--and one that shows that Daniel Cormack is extremely talented. It also shows that he must know somebody, as the film looks quite expensive and stars Anthony Head--an actor who is often in great demand and must not have been easy to get for such an independent film.The story is one that actually might be best seen AFTER you read the IMDb summary. This is because what, exactly, is happening isn't readily apparent. This is NOT a criticism--just a comment about the subtlety of the film. I won't completely explain the plot--as I said, just read it yourself. The film is about a couple who SHOULD be quite happy--at least according to society's standards. They are quite wealthy--so well to do that the husband (Head) has a private car pick him up and drive him about and he can jet over to Milan for business. In fact, the pair go through the motions of being happy--while both have their affairs and live separate lives in the same household. It's a life of quiet desperation...and it's profoundly sad.The film is striking when you watch the camera-work and hear the very evocative music. While the story is depressing and slow, the amazing professionalism of the project is what struck me. I am surprised that after making this film and "Nightwalking" that Cormack has not been in huge demand. You'd think such professional looking films would create a ton of folks pressing him to work on other projects. His work deserves to be seen and appreciated.

not_from_here How much do you know about those you should know most about? How much should you know? Do you need to know everything? Amelia and Michael should know everything about each other as they are a prosperous, successful, professional married couple. Yet each keeps a secret from each other in Daniel Cormack's debut film.Amelia has a devotion to a critically injured young man and she visits him whilst he is lying in a hospital bed. He is hooked up to a life support machine and is still and silent. Who he is we never find out, a lover or male relative perhaps? Michael's secret is more straightforward he lies about a business trip and uses a call girl. He suffers from guilt, she from grief. In the end they confess to each other and have no more secrets. Except that he was called by a colleague when in the hotel room he uses and she casts an eye over a young man who passes by on a motorbike. Does this mean that they are serial offenders? As the viewer we think we know all about them but at the end we can't be sure.Cormack manages to put this story across in a short space in an economic style which nevertheless packs in lots of information and detail. The viewer is never left to watch too long on one aspect of the film but it never feels like being rushed, the pace is superb.In his first film Cormack has managed to tell a story well and use his star actor (Anthony Head) well. The technical standard is very high and at no time does it feel like a low budget film. He is obviously a talent to watch out for in future.

Theo Robertson Sometimes the problem with a short film that has two separate individuals as writer and director is that the two people involved are at odds with each other artistically . One instinctively feels that neither understands what the other is trying to do which means the short suffers With AMELIA AND MICHAEL Stephen Betts has written a relatively low concept story about two human beings who have been in a relationship where the love is burning less brightly than it was several years ago . Director Daniel Cormack has resisted any temptation by " livening " the story up by fancy camera moves that often blights many a short by an inexperienced director and shoots the story so that the audience can feel the emotions the eponymous characters are feeling with guilt and forgiveness being the main emotions felt A story that is short , simple , without a clever plot but one that is essentially human . You may not recognise yourself in the characters but they'll certainly remind you of someone you know