Short Film: Dawn: Year Seven

16 years after the original feature’s release, director Jay Reel releases a short film set in his Dawn universe. Dawn was an indie film that managed to rise above its limitations to create a film that surprised.

Chloe Liles as Dawn

This is the same story concept, with the two primary characters recast (in the case of Dawn, for obvious reasons) but is a prequel, with Dawn (Chloe Liles) seven in this rather than the ten she was in the original. I guess one might call this a reimagining. After all Dawn’s hair has changed colour and John (Jeremy Liles), her father, drives a hybrid (which were available when the first film was made but not common place). The hybrid is a nice touch as we shall see.

sleeping at the wheel

Essential storyline for those who haven’t seen the first film is that Dawn is a natural vampire – a separate species that lives aside humankind. Her mother, also a vampire, died in childbirth but as far as she knew Dawn is the first vampire conceived by a vampire and a human – she is a hybrid. John now travels the roads of America with his daughter, having built her teeth caps to hide her fangs (he was a dentistry student). We discover that at this stage he has been feeding her (she can only consume human blood). As he drives, he falls asleep at the wheel – though the car simply stops rather than crashing.

Father and daughter

Dawn has realised the toll that she is taking on her father and doesn’t want to feed from him, despite the headaches she suffers. However, she has instincts too. She can feel when someone is in pain and close to death. This recognition is two-way – she is a bringer of relief to those who are dying. This was something that is also a central story aspect to Byzantium . The short does not have the moments of peril the feature introduced.

fangs

The biggest cinematographical difference between this and the original is that this is in colour, where the other was black and white. I suspect that Reel did what he did for the original and roped in locals to star. I don’t feel the central performance was as strong as it was in the original, but perhaps that is the nuance in the age differences. In my review of the original I said “probably deserving of a remake with some form of budget – the only trouble with that is a budgeted remake might destroy its inherent charms.” This might be a step towards that remake. At the time of writing I couldn’t find an IMDb page.