PopHorror Let's Get Scared
How’s everyone holding up during the COVID-19 pandemic? I am an “essential” employee, so I have been out working with the public throughout this pandemic. To say it’s an stressful is an understatement. While the nation has been opening up more, I am still not going anywhere other than work and the occasional trip to the store. Our new motto: phone, keys, wallet, mask, and sanitizer. Unless, of course, you are like Bro!’s Larry, who think this is all a hoax, and everything is fine out there. Waylon Bacon’s short film, Bro! covers this challenge perfectly. A man tries to go out and get his prescription, and his neighbor, Larry, is like, “What’s the big deal?” Let’s find out more about the film, my thoughts and watch Bro! when you’re done!
From Bro! Creator Waylon Bacon:
A highly contagious disease sweeps the nation, forcing people to stay inside and avoid infection. But what happens when your friends and neighbors don’t believe the news? How far would they go to prove you wrong?
In the short film, Bro!, that’s exactly what happens, as a man attempts to leave his house to pick up a prescription, only to encounter his neighbor, Larry. Deathly ill and believing the nationwide pandemic to be a hoax, Larry refuses to leave until the man comes outside and hangs out with him, creating a darkly comic hostage situation.
Made quickly over a three day period, Bro! started life as an entry in the Roger Corman Quarantine Film Festival, in which filmmakers were asked to create a short film under two minutes in length, at home, on their cell phones. Using my frustration and anxieties at Covid-19 as inspiration, I hit upon the idea of a sick neighbor in denial, unaware of the deadly consequences of his actions. Being unemployed and under quarantine, I both filmed and played all the parts myself, duct taping my cheap cell phone to a tripod in order to get takes. Once it was all shot, I looped in all the dialogue, using my own voice for the lead, and calling on my friend Elias Santos to provide the voice of Larry.
Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the film in time to meet the deadline for the festival, finding no way edit Bro! down to anything less than two and a half minutes. I decided to upload the finished piece on YouTube anyway, figuring that at least my friends would get a kick out of it.
Within hours, I began to see Bro! getting shared across my social media platforms, with some of the most immediate and positive reactions to any of my film work that I’ve ever had, with descriptions like “mordantly funny” “unfortunately hilarious” being representative of the feedback I was receiving. Despite the obvious budget and equipment limitations, and much to my surprise, the film was allowing people to laugh at a situation which gets scarier by the day, giving them some much needed relief during these strange times.
Bro! is my seventh short film, with my previous work including the award winning shorts Help Wanted, The Ride, and the music video for the single, “Life Without Skin,” by The Lumerians.
My Thoughts:
In this short run time, I literally laughed out loud almost the whole time. This film is a spot on depiction of our “new normal” out there during this COVID-19 pandemic. The prepping to go out for something as simple as a prescription, the neighbor coughing and saying the ultimate COVID-19 slogan: “Man, we talked about this. Gotta stop drinking that Kool-Aid.” The film is shot well, moved at the ideal pace and captured COVID-19 life perfectly. Performances were spot on as well. I enjoyed this film and found it brought the perfect and much needed comic relief during these crazy times. Check out the film below!
This is a fun short film, right? The great news is Waylon recently re-shot the whole film on his Canon Rebel for a high quality version of Bro! He will be submitting that version to film festivals. Hopefully, we will be seeing the redux out there soon! Did you enjoy Bro!? Let us know your thoughts below!
I hope you all are staying safe out there. Be sure to stay tuned to PopHorror for all your news, reviews, interviews and much more!
