Slash FF review: Grandma Is Thirsty (2025)
Slash Film Festival
Fantastic Shorts Competition
“Stand up to your bullies!” is much easier said than done, since standing up has to be substantiated with a matching attitude and, in most cases, physique. Sometimes the problem is solved by the formal and “informal” authorities. Still, more often there are no shortcuts; the time has to pass until the bullied becomes equal or even physically superior to the bullies. Sad but true.
The protagonist of Kris Carr’s short film Grandma Is Thirsty, George (Harris Kiiza), has the same problem. He thinks he has found the solution in a chance meeting with polite, but somewhat creepy twins Benny (Harrison Little) and Bronte (Jessie Johnson), who promise to make him big and strong if he hangs with them and goes to their house. Not just does it sound too good to be true, but the fact that the twins have the voice of an adult man should set off some alarms.
Of course, the house is a trap, as the kids share it with their giant father (Dean Killbey) and their 600-year-old grandma (Matt Swift under a ton or so of prosthetics), who drinks kids to stay alive. And, as the title suggests, Grandma is very, very thirsty…
There is a lot to be praised in this old-school-looking little horror gem, from the deliberate choice of the 20th-century locations to create a notion of set design without actually designing sets and matching costumes by Emily Tyrer, to Michael Richard Johnson’s cinematography that captures and highlights the director’s perfect sense for framing. The practical special effects are believably gruesome, while the use of computer animation makes them blend smoothly with the rest of the material. Finally, the suggestive editing by the filmmaker himself and the choices of music complete the picture.
That picture, however, is at times too perfect. There is a simple reason for that, since Grandma Is Thirsty is actually a proof of concept for a feature film. The trouble is that, although it works perfectly in a 14-and-a-half-minute format, there is some “time wasting” to be sensed here. In feature-length format, it can sink the film, especially if Carr does not have any surprises up his sleeve in the story department.
Year:
2025
Runtime:
14’ 30’’
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Directed by:
Kris Carr
Written by:
Kris Carr
Cast:
Harris Kiiza, Harrison Little, Jessie Johnson, Dean Killbey, Matt
Swift, Nigel Guildford
Cinematography
by: Michael Richard Johnson
Editing
by: Kris Carr
Sound
by: James Alden Berry
Costume
design by: Emily Tyrer
Make-up
by: Will Harvey
Special
effects by: Will Harvey
Animation
by: Loki Fellows, Callum
Welch
Colourist:
Finlay Reid
Produced by:
Adam John Watts
Co-produced
by: Olive Walton
Production
companies: When Not If, Centerframe
