As per the requirements of this project, I need to make two research posts in which I watch to two existing short films to prepare and get ideas for my own. These first two films are both live action and were released recently, with one coming out last year and the other coming out only a around week ago.
Film 1: Coreys
Coreys (2024) is a thriller/comedy film written by, directed by, and starring the comedian Conner O'Malley. I remember watching this when it came out and not really enjoying it. On rewatch, I'm more conflicted. The film's plot is that a dissatisfied husband and father named Corey discovers an internet influencer who looks exactly like him, also named Corey. Other Corey is a popular, uninhibited party animal who surrounds himself with women and flaunts his success, the exact opposite of Main Corey. Main Corey goes to Las Vegas to meet his doppelganger, resulting in the two of them fusing into one. This new Corey runs around Vegas for a bit until memories of Main Corey's family start rushing back to him, resulting in the two splitting back apart and Main Corey going back home to his wife, now with a new appreciation for his mundane existence.
Despite it's eccentricities, in the end it's a pretty standard "there's no place like home" story. Main Corey thinks he wants the party lifestyle, but realizes that he's more happy as a suburbanite. I applaud the film for who it gets that idea across very smoothly, not bogging it down with unnecessary information. My big problem is that a lot of it feels like it's just going through the motions. I get that Main Corey's want is based on wanting to emulate the life shown on the internet, that part is made very clear by him obsessing over Other Corey's videos. But why he does he choose to leave? It seems like his Vegas persona is everything he ever wanted. The flashback to him with his son is so out of nowhere and feels unearned. We're supposed to believe he's a loving father just because the movie tells us to via some home videos. None of his previous actions support this, and that leads to weaker storytelling.
I also really don't like the way flashbacks and inserts are used. Again, I get that this whole movie is about the internet, which is why O'Malley feels the need to heavily emphasize the chaotic videos of Other Corey and show how they're getting into Main Corey's head via quick inserts. In the beginning, it's fine. But then it keeps going. Conner, I get it. Other Corey represents the ideal life that toxic social media sells to straight men, you make that very clear. You can stop now. The inserts are so prevalent that becomes obnoxious, and not in a "that's the point way" more so in a "this is just hammering in the message as if the audience is too stupid to infer it themself while padding out the runtime way".
Overall, Coreys is fine. I don't love it, I don't hate it. I'm probably never going to think about it again. What I've learned from this one is to go beyond the surface level where applicable, not overuse technical gimmicks, and not try too hard to make a statement. If the audience wants to get it, they'll get it.
Film 2: Liked
Liked (2025) is a horror film written and directed by Kylie Roseanne, a YouTuber better known to many as Haunted Hippie (I'm a fan of her videos, which is how I found out she made a short film). I'm not going to act like this movie is perfect, but I will say that I enjoyed it a lot more than Coreys. Both movies are ones that deal with the internet and the role of influencers, and while Liked makes very little sense regarding themes, it's far better written, directed, and shot, and I can forgive the messiness when Roseanne is clearly having a blast putting completely unnecessary body horror elements in her indie dramedy about a substitute teacher trying to make it big online.
The plot of this film is that Hannah, a substitute teacher, starts posting online as a fashion influencer. She tries to maintain a balance between her passion project and relationships with her friends and family, all while caring for the rapidly growing creature she found in her closet, which she named Coco, who feeds on her blood. Eventually Coco grows into a humanoid woman that resembles a mix between a zombie and Amy Lee from Evanesence, proceeds to kill Hannah's friend and then Hannah herself, and the film ends on her beginning to record a video as her adoptive mother would.
What impressed me most about this film is the acting and the writing. It all feels very natural, and it's clear that it's a film about the influencer experience written by someone who's lived through it. There are moments of Gen-Z slang like "touch grass" that don't feel forced and instead feel like natural things these people would say to each other when hanging out. The horror and suspense is really well done, especially given the limited resources. They do a great job hiding what Coco's growing forms look like, making the final reveal all the more powerful.
Now obviously the intended metaphor here is that Coco drinking Hannah's blood represents her giving parts of her life away to make videos. How are these things correlated in the context of the movie? Why does it end like that? I don't know, but it's cool! Liked is a movie that feels fun. It has energy. Some may even say, it has sauce. I think with short films, that's what matters. If my audience has a good time and is smiling by the end, that's how I know I succeeded.
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