Director Patrick Rea has a great skill for misdirection, where you think you’re going somewhere in a story, but suddenly you’re in a completely different avenue, plot wise. Patrick Rea delivers another really fine short film called “I Do” that begins like every Patrick Rea movie to date. Something is amidst, and the minute we enter in to the scenario, we want to know what is happening. When we finally do, it’s outstanding.
A mom and dad are allowing their daughter to pick her final wish from a bowl in their kitchen. Her final wish is to get married, in spite of the fact she’s barely ten years old. Heartbroken, and contemplating her last wish, the parents oblige, supplying her with her own custom dress, and even inviting over her chosen groom. What seems like the final wishes of a girl really is something much more interesting. And while director Patrick Rea’s film begins on an unusual note, sticking with the developing narrative really does offer the audience a great pay off that was fantastic, and absolutely horrifying.
Patrick Rea has a great sense of building tension with every minute. And though the movie clocks in at six minutes, the opening shots establish so much that when the big twist arrives in the middle, you’re filled with an overwhelming sense of dread, and the idea that this whole scenario isn’t as goofy as it sounds. In the context of the entire film, the mock marriage is beautiful, and incredibly tragic. Director Patrick Rea and writer Amber Rapp really have an ace indie short on their hands, and it works as a horror film and a drama.