“Obsessions” Shorts Block
With the accessibility and affordability of modern technology, it’s become all too easy to spy on people. With a simple click of a button it only takes basic know how to sneak up on a stranger and watch their every move. Director Jill Sixx Gevarzigian sets her horror short on an all too common occurrence. It’s a heinous, intrusive, and perverse crime that’s equivalent to rape or molestation.
Najarra Townsend and Andrea Dover play Ava and Alicia, two best friends and roommates going through normal obstacles in their persona lives. One night while relaxing at home, roommate Alicia notices an irregular detail in the apartment’s smoke detector. Before long, the pair of roommates find various video devices around their house and realize that they’ve become victim to a predator who has been watching them for longer than either of them realize. Jill Sixx Gevarzigian’s film is very scary, not just because of the fantastic direction, but because the premise is rooted in the real world, and is based on actual crimes that have been committed around the world.
Though writer Gevarzigian never actually divulges who the film is based on, all that’s important is that this is a crime that’s occurred to too many women. As well, the damage that’s inflicted on the victim has long term repercussions scarier than any fictional monster on paper. Gevarzigian thankfully keeps the pacing and momentum tight, with the mystery leading the pair of women in to a rabbit hole that’s too disturbing for either of them to comprehend. “42 Counts” has the chance to be exploitative, but thankfully keeps the narrative very tasteful and in keeping with the inherent terror of the massive discovery the two friends unearth. This is an important short film with a very dire message about taking a second look at your surroundings and how, especially in this day and age, life for women can harrowing at any moment.
The Final Girls Berlin Film Festival runs every year from January 31st to February 3rd.