Described as a psychological absurdist horror, micro-short film Ibuprofen is the first film I have seen that has come from Bahrain. I admit to having never heard of the country, but a quick Wikipedia search states it is an island country in West Asia, situated on the Persian Gulf. This three minute horror was written, directed, edited and had cinematography all done by Abdulla Naji Mahmood, and while obviously low budget, this had some neat weirdness to it.
A student travels through the maze-like corridors of his university one evening, desperate to find out what his grades are. Almost giving up, the young man eventually locates his tutor, but that isn't the end of his confusing quest.
The director's statement for this short says how it was made as a comparison against his real life struggles of attending university, due to issues he faced with what he terms 'administrative incompetence'. Even before having read the statement I could see similarities within my own experience of having attended uni and battling against bureaucracy. The best horror often holds itself up as a mirror to societal issues, so in this respect it works well.
It begins with a dizzying over-lapping montage of the student wandering the halls, the camera at a slight angle to give an off-kilter feel. Classic horror moments are added to this, such as the appearance of a stern looking stranger who completely ignores the students questions. Even the meeting with the tutor itself infuses the scenes with an unsettling feel, with the man sitting at an empty desk in the middle of a large dark room. The way the film was shot and framed was the highlight of this, even without anything particularly sinister happening there was an on-edge feel.
A lot of ground is covered in the three minute run time, the surreal feeling added to with dialogue that confuses both the viewer as well as the protagonist character. With the student chewed up and spat out, the titular ibuprofen makes its appearance, seeming in a meta way to be both there for the student's complicated experience, and for the viewer themselves.
Being a very indie feeling film there are some constraints, not from the camera work nor the acting, but I did have some struggles with the sound design. At times the soundtrack was louder than the dialogue being spoken, and the foley work at times felt a bit distracting, such as the tapping of the students feet as he walks leading me to thinking I accidentally had a different video playing at the same time. You could argue this adds to the feel of surrealness that permeates Ibuprofen.
I have recently been re-playing the video game Alan Wake, and this short reminded me fondly of the Twilight Zone styled live action mini-episodes you find in that game (called 'Night Springs'). Ibuprofen may have left me feeling a little baffled as to what had gone on, but I genuinely enjoyed the atmosphere of this strange little movie.
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