SNAPSHOT
A Science Fiction Romantic Comedy.An adventure through time begins in a greasy Manchester cafe, when Ed; a hopeless in love inventor, creates a device that allows him to undo time. With unlimited chances he has hopes of impressing the girl of his dreams, but that’s not as easy as it sounds. With his best friend Carrie by his side he must fight to undo the past, and get the girl. (synopsis via Vimeo)
We think nothing of CTRL Z-ing our way through a work day, mistyped words and skewed graphs falling before the might of the keyboard do-over.
It makes us feel damn near invincible, or at least, not quite so fallible, so the idea of extending it to life itself, the very acts of living, dying and falling marvellously in love is tempting, oh-so-tempting, but seemingly simple ideas come with some fairly disastrous consequences as the festival-starring short film CTRL Z makes brilliantly clear.
Amusing in its execution, with comedic riffs that wouldn’t be out of place in a cleverly-written British sitcom or two, CTRL Z is a gameboy/plutonium-fuelled exploration of the reasons why life might be best lived as a one-time only deal on a non-knife wielding linear road that hints in one direction and one direction only.
How good is this gem of what-ifs?
One Film Fan captures the heart and appeal of CTRL Z‘s perfect-execution beautifully:
“Rom coms will never be the same thanks to writer/director/co-producer/editor James Kennedy’s absolutely hilarious 23-minute short film that more than makes a point to warn us humans what elements of existence we really shouldn’t mess with, regardless of the “purity” of our intentions. Becoming a comedic cautionary tale about the lengths we might go for love but not always consider the ramifications it might have on others, the narrative’s wonderfully orchestrated sci-fi twist makes the proceedings that much more jocular and full of witty geek talk, befuddled friend moments, sincerely heartfelt romantic gestures, and hard lessons learned about what happens if you try and dominate time and what can be done with it. Watching everything start out so relatively innocently and then totally spiral out of control is a riot throughout, but then actually takes a turn for the genuinely sentimental, bringing warm fuzzies to one’s heart–until the finale slaps you right in the face and soon, you’re on the floor laughing out loud again at the utter, entertaining absurdity of it all. The overall visual execution is solid here as well, following the hilarity with purpose and clear cinematography capturing each moment perfectly.”
Trust me, it’s worth your time … perhaps just the one time OK? Oh hell, it’s too good for that! Just don’t reset life to do it all right?
I live by Control Z on the computer! Oh, to have that power in other areas of my life. It would be a bit like Groundhog Day, but selectively chosen.