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Brandon
McCormick’s rather surreal and awfully unusual short film is not just an
experiment in originality, it’s a commentary on our culture. If everyone
is happy, then nothing is wrong, right? If you just keep a smile on your
face, then nothing is really going on in the world, right? “Smiling
Addiction” is probably one of the most memorable short films that speak
sounds about our culture and about our ability to keep bliss and denial
a high priority in the face of reality.
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A concept
featuring all of its characters wearing giant yellow smiley
faces could have come off like a bad “Saturday Night Live”
sketch, but McCormick composes it with enough tongue in
cheek darkness to make the social commentary as loud as
possible without clubbing us over the head. McCormick
examines that section of self-medicated society, that part
of our world that relies on all sorts of illusions and
suppressants to get us through the real world, and puts the
opium of the masses under the magnifying glass.
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The stark photography
mixed with bold images of promotions for happy pills that take the pain
away and keep the smiles is rather disturbing, and matched with the
great score from Nick Kirk and Billy Wilkerson, “Smiling Addiction” is a
relevant glimpse at our society, and the quick fixes we subject
ourselves to.
Brandon McCormick's ode to eternal ignorance and bliss in a harsh
society is apt, relevant, and rather dark, and I enjoyed the hell out of
it. It's very telling of a director's skill when he can sum up humanity
in three minutes.
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