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Director: Cameron Summers
Stars: Luke Pierce Powelle, Charlotte Oakley, Ben Worth, Christina NG
Producer: Fuzzyhead Productions, Oxygen Films

“Take your shirt off.”

Perhaps the best advert to avoid rural stays, Folk is the latest indie short from Fuzzyhead Productions. A family drama like no other, director Cameron Summers brings you into the darkest depths of the family household like never seen before. A journey into the unknown or just domesticated madness?

For Levi (Luke Pierce Powell), he thought he was booking into a cheap rural stay, recommended to him by some friends. What he didn’t expect was the man of the house, Alistair (Ben Worth), to be so aggressively welcoming. From sharing a meal at the dinner table to charades, the activities with Alistair and his family seem tacky and awkward, whilst slightly wholesome. But something about this family isn’t normal… The tension between Alisatir and his wife and daughter is often off the rails for no apparent reason. Is something going on, or is he just a bastard? All in the meantime, Levi finds himself awkwardly centred amongst the inconsistent hostility and absurdity.

As Folk progresses, the elements of weirdness and unpredictability are growing evermore, and rapidly, too. Both frightening and exciting, there is an inviting ambience that literally anything could happen. To a degree, Folk is one of the weirdest things ever seen. Ranging between howling with black comedy and hurling with flat out sickness, there is a lack of any dull moments. When it wants to be, Folk is relentlessly wild.

Running at around 30-minutes, the two main folks of Folks – Luke Pierce Powell and Ben Worth – only have a limited amount of time available to them to deliver. Supporting performances from Charlotte Oakley and Chrstina NG, respectively playing the household daughter and wife, feel that they are held back, sometimes withdrawn performances with the duality of representing how their respective characters exist and also to form a base in promoting the more involved performances from Powell and Worth. On this occasion the more minute performances from Oakley and NG make for a great counter balance.

By far, Folk is one of the best indie shorts out there. A masterclass in exposing and exploiting awkwardness and really making the most of it, director Cameron Summers has done a fine job in this regard. Whilst Folk works exceptionally well as a short, the potential for it as a feature, is exciting to say the least. Perhaps, the time restraint of short filmmaking does force twists, turns, and general beats to occur more unnaturally, but in the regard of Folk, screen time is managed well with the story that is intended to be told. Equipped with a wonderful score and soundtrack, presented alongside a warm evening cinematography, Folk is as easy on the ears as it is on the eyes.