PopHorror Let's Get Scared
There are certain moments in life we wish we could live over, or things that we wish we could have done differently if given the chance. These issues are explored in the short film, South Shore (Rive-Sud), written and directed by Xavier Hamel (The Last Roadkill 2017). The film stars Sylvie Léonard (Let Go TV series), Debbie Lynch-White (Happy Face 2018 – read our review here), Mireille Bedard (La beauté fatale et féroce… 1996), Marie Cantin (Prémonitions 1996), Francis Ducharme (I Killed My Mother 2009), and Max Houle (Deathcember 2019).
Synopsis:
While paranoia takes over a small town following an unsolved crime, a woman in a state of panic attempts to go on with her life after witnessing a murder.
South Shore (Rive-Sud) opens with Francine (Léonard) hearing over the radio that a body that was found on a jogging trail near her house. She overreacts, cutting her hand badly on the dish she was washing. In the days that follow, she’s in a daze. We eventually find out that she witnessed the murder, but did nothing to stop it, afraid for herself.
South Shore (Rive-Sud) was a difficult film for me to watch. Francine’s lack of action was frustrating. I suppose this is the point of the film: to make people question what they would do in her place. I think most viewers would think, idealistically, that they would make different choices. I’m not sure anyone would have chosen to do what Francine did, but who can say what one would do in certain situations? Or, if you did nothing, how heavy would the weight of guilt be?
I can certainly say South Shore (Rive-Sud) is a beautifully filmed, carefully acted, thought provoking short. For those reasons alone, I’d certainly recommend it.
