It’s been too long since we’ve featured a worthwhile short film, but I promise you this most recent offering, The Candidate, is definitely worth watching. The titular character played by Tom Gulager is joined by fan-favorite Robert Picardo whose character represents a secret organization known as the Society for United Action.
The society’s purpose is to find people they feel do not deserve to live and then attempt to wish them dead. Picardo’s character, Carl Tucker, is on a mission of recruitment for the society.
I may have never come across this video if it weren’t for the keen eye of Ivan Kandler over at Short of the Week where it was recently featured. Kandler described this film perfectly when he said in his post, “The film plays out like a stellar episode of the Twilight Zone, mashing together reality and fantasy in a manner that is both emotionally and intellectually satisfying.”
After watching The Candidate I can confidently say that Kandler’s comparison of it to the best of the Twilight Zone is spot-on.
At around 20 minutes in length this short has a run time close to that of your average half hour television show minus commercials. But don’t let the length sway you from giving The Candidate a view because it’s a gripping and professionally crafted piece of cinema with an unusual storyline that will have you examining the nature of morality.
What would you do if you believed you could literally (And I use that word with it’s actual definition, not the recently watered-down revision.) wish someone dead?
THE CANDIDATE from David Karlak on Vimeo.
THE CANDIDATE is a 19-minute fictional film about an underhanded company man who is offered assistance by a secret organization that immerses him in forces beyond his control.
Burton Grunzer – a hyper-aggressive and confident dealmaker – lives in the pressure cooker of a Fortune 500 company. His hard work and tenacity guarantee him a place at the top, but one man threatens everything that heʼs built. Co-worker Whitman Hayes is protected by someone high up and his blunders in the board room are damaging Burtonʼs reputation. Burton is repeatedly contacted by a secret organization called the Society for United Action. Mystified, he agrees to meet with a representative from the society, sealing his entry into a world where wishful thinking is used as a tool for murder.
