Short Film Review: “Everybody Needs Some(dead)body”
Dir: George Mills & Hannah Seligman
UK • Comedy • 19 Mins
After one too many slices of pie, Frank departs this world, leaving his wife Tracy all alone. Upon receiving a mysterious videotape from a company purporting to be able to bring loved ones back from the dead, Tracy goes ahead with the procedure only for it to be a failure. Tracy wastes no time taking in a new lover, but upon the unexpected arrival of the once again living and breathing Frank, a bizarre suburban love triangle begins. After the romance dies, an unforeseen bromance blossoms and Tracy has to make a choice in order to get her life back on track.
Set in a timeless suburb, Everybody Needs Some(dead)body is a brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable dark comedy. Directors George Mills & Hannah Seligman very quickly get to work establishing the tone and look of the film, cherry-picking a delightful array of anachronistic props and elements to help build their stylised world. Everything, from the costumes to the TVs and even the sofas, curtains and duvets, has been carefully chosen. The suburban location too, inside and out, is perfect.
A lot of student films wear their influences on their sleeves, but the script from this filmmaking duo is clever, unique, completely unpredictable and unbearably funny. The screenplay is well structured and takes some genuinely surprising twists yet it never feels like it undermines our expectations. Nothing is done to be subversive, Mills and Seligman just have a very unique filmmaking vision.
The filmmakers as writers, English George Mills & American born Hannah Seligman, not only take inspiration from the suburbs of their respective homelands but also the cultures too and it’s interesting to see where the two sets of influences meet and meld together. The aesthetics, colloquialisms and characters are on the whole typically British, yet the plot and storytelling devices have more of an American, Twilight Zone-esque nature to them. The abrupt cuts and score too feel more reminiscent of American TV. Yet none of these elements clash and everything works together wonderfully. Where there’s a perfect blend and crossover of influences is the dark comedy. The humour could have just as easily come from the pens of the Coen Brothers as it could from that of Pemberton & Shearsmith.
As directors, they’re strong storytellers with a very clear vision for the film that they follow through with. The whole film is incredibly taut and they display a measured control over the world they’re creating, the concept and the performances.
Aided by some fantastic dialogue, the performances from the cast, particularly David McSweeney and Nicola Wright as the original suburban couple, are exceptionally strong. Nicola Wright as Tracy beautifully portrays a woman who is as heartbroken as she is frustrated and disillusioned by the whole situation (and no doubt her suburban lifestyle), while David McSweeney as Frank, who’s probably not best cut out for a life on a quiet street, effortlessly exudes the right amount of ‘bloke-ish’ charisma and good-natured humour as he tries to make the best of the bizarre situation he’s found himself in.
The actors are all in and totally understand this world. They never play up to the film’s quirks and treat everything that transpires as quite rational and normal. Rooting all the surreal occurrences in their own reality is a nice touch from the filmmaking duo which allows for many dark comedic moments to filter through.
To cap everything off, there are some wonderfully composed and conceived shots that aid the humour, tension and storytelling brilliantly. The quirky synth score also fits right in and the tight editing also (consciously) jolts in some great comedic moments. The film is not only an incredibly impressive achievement for a student production but there aren’t many non-student films that you’ll see that are as tightly & carefully crafted and original as this.
With it’s witty & clever script, well-commanded direction and wickedly funny performances, Everybody Needs Some(dead)body is a brilliant, unique and extremely fun offbeat little film.
9/10
Everybody Needs Some(dead)body won Best Short Film & Best Comedy and was nominated for Best Student Film, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Actor (for David McSweeney as “Frank”) and Best Actress (Nicola Wright as “Tracy”) at our 2022 film festival.
Reviewed by Philip Pugh
