Short film: the Cure

This 2015 French short film, directed by Xavier Mesme, was recorded in English and comes in at around the 15-minute mark.

As things open, we are exposed to an electronic conversation between Miss Waltz (Caroline Fauvet) and Lioukov (Nicolas Buchoux). She is a drug addict and has reached out to him as he supposedly has a cure. He confirms he has but there is a price.

In order that he might apply the cure she has to go 13-days clean. The film than goes back 15 days and we see a montage of her struggling with her addiction. After thirteen days she contacted him and now, 15-days since going cold turkey, she is expecting him to visit her. He has a Lugosi-esque accent and delivery, which might clue a viewer in.

breaking glass

He arrives and immediately checks her arm for track marks. She gets him a drink of wine and he proposes a toast – to her cure. She lifts her glass but it shatters in her hand, breaking and gashing her palm. She runs to the bathroom to clean the cut and he takes the opportunity to check her computer – seeing an email from a pharmaceutical company.

checking her arms

Suspicious he bursts into the bathroom and checks both arms, but they are clean. She pushes past him, leaving the bathroom and he examines a sealed syringe package and then picks up the gauze she used to clean her wound, licking the blood from it and our suspicions are confirmed, especially as he doesn’t appear to cast a reflection, but will he actually have a cure for her?

fangs

This is a neat, well shot little short and self-contained within its running time, leaving a satisfying little story, both actors are good – though I was unsure about the accent that Nicolas Buchoux used, I can confirm that he exudes the right amount of creepy, there is something uncanny about him and that is a testament to his performance.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK