Following the death of her best friend, Riley becomes consumed with guilt and it isn’t long before everything catches up with her in Daniel James Dismuke’s short psychological horror Disingenuous.
Disingenuous is a six-minute psychological horror short film that draws inspiration from a couple of well-known previous efforts, including Jordan Peele’s horror movie Us, and the Japanese horror classic Ringu. The film revolves around just one character Riley, played by Rachel Aladdin, who is seemingly haunted by something that could either be her conscience or some sort of malevolent presence.
The film begins with a spiralling opening shot of a cityscape and a couple of quick edits before a close-up shot of Riley’s face as she sits unmoved on a couch. From her voice-over, we hear an earlier conversation she had where she confessed that something is after her because she is guilty. Darkly lit, we see her in a sparsely decorated apartment room, and the muted colour scheme and eerie silence create a sense of foreboding from the start. Riley begins to hallucinate and hear things, a faint whisper here, a brief vision there. She brushes it off as her imagination but the longer she struggles with herself the creepier things get. The film becomes increasingly unsettling as Riley’s reality becomes more distorted. She hears strange noises, fidgets with herself, and sees flashes of something sinister.
Ezekiel Kitchen’s cinematography is particularly effective in all these moments, with close-ups of Riley’s face conveying her mounting fear and anxiety. There is also clever use of lighting and shadow to create an otherworldly atmosphere. She brushes it all off as her imagination but the longer she struggles with herself the creepier things get. Thanks to a smart script written by Dismuke and Matthew Thomas, we begin to question Riley’s sanity; is she really being haunted by a malevolent presence, or is it just all in her head?
This uncertainty is reminiscent of the Japanese horror classic ‘Ringu’, in which the line between reality and the supernatural is similarly blurred. However, using an old-fashioned jump scare we see a figure appear that sends a shiver down our spine and finally gives us our answer.
One of the film’s strongest elements is the sound design which uses loud drum-like raps and beats, that add to the overall sense of unease. Music also plays a crucial role in the film’s final twist, which sees an upbeat pop song contrast massively with the violence on show.
Overall, ‘Disingenuous’ is an impressive piece of short filmmaking that manages to pack a lot of scares and intrigue into its six-minute runtime. The film draws inspiration from classics of the genre and although there is nothing new or original on show, Daniel James Dismuke shows himself to be a talented filmmaker, with a strong sense of pacing and an eye for detail. Rachel Aladdin also deserves praise for her performance, which carries the film’s emotional weight.
If you are a fan of psychological horror Disingenuous is well worth your time. A chilling film that leaves its mark and gives us moments that linger in our minds. A confident little chiller, I can see Daniel James Dismuke and Rachel Aladdin’s names cropping up in the credits of a feature-length horror movie sometime in the future.
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