1. FILMS
A shot taken from the second scene in ‘JACKED’
Film Review -
JACKED
UK 2016
Director: Liam Monk
Cast: Kieran Falzon,
Candice Russel,
Harry Dobson, Jake Took
Certificate: 12
Banstead Reviewers Newsletter March 2016
scene. The ending of JACKED is somewhat
unfulfilling for us as an audience, with James
only getting some closure as he sees his at-
tacker unconscious on the floor. But the in-
tended theme of retribution or ‘karma’ is still
evident to us as viewers. Overall, JACKED is
a well-rounded short, with some mishaps of
continuity and cinematography (overly shaky
camera work). However it is a much greater
standard than Monk’s last publication ‘A Life In
Hebetude’, and is saved by the intense feel of
the scenes and the risk that the character is
put under; which helps create a nice immer-
sive feel to the short, and finishes the short
with the audience still slightly on edge . To
give the film justice, a rating of 6 out of 10
would be appropriate, but this could be
argued depending on how important you feel
cinematography and editing to be over
narrative.
So we are left to assume that the short is
just going to be another predictable monoto-
nous playout of events afterward, but luckily
for Monk, this is not the case. Kerry’s violent
throw of her ring back to James really sets
us the infortune of James in the next
scenes. The performance of James is slight-
ly lacklustre when he first sees the hooded
men following behind him, with the almost
false surprise breaking our immersion into
the film. The following scenes are well
placed and feel as though they flow with the
structure of the narrative. We see James
pacing away from these men as he’s imme-
diately worries by their presence. However,
it seems too sudden and overly cautious,
therefore limiting the immersion into the
story. On the other hand, as he moves onto
the field we are given a well-placed sense of
relief and false security as James stops and
takes a deep exhale. Then the ensuing
shock and surprise as he is taken by the
two attackers, really helps drive the audi-
ences worry for James’ safety The sense of
fear in James is elicited well through the
performance and as he gives the men the
fake phone, we are shocked and left pon-
dering whether he is simply brave or stupid
for attempting such a risky move. This re-
action sets us up nicely for when his actual
mobile phone goes off and the attackers
return, this time, bringing out a knife. The
camera movement within the confrontation
is continuous and smooth, however there
are some significant continuity errors that
really bring down the impact of the immer-
sion into that particular
Jacked is a 2016 short film production,
directed by the new and upcoming creator
Liam Monk. For his first short film, ‘Jacked’
produces scenes of horror and despair for
not only the character within, but also the
audience watching. The violence and
trauma shown really helps us as an audi-
ence empathise for James (Kieran Falzon)
when he’s being attacked by the two ‘scum
of the Earth’ hooded men walking around
with knives and the intent to take whatever
they want, with no regard for human well-
being. The story begins with a clearly dis-
functioning couple that is fighting over the
usual petty problems such as mobile com-
munications with people that aren’t their
other half. James is given to us as the ig-
norant male character on his mobile phone
whilst his girlfriend Kerry (Candice Russel)
is walking awkwardly beside him frustrat-
ed. The ensuing conversation is the bog-
standard ‘girlfriend is angry, the guy
doesn’t know why’ argument we see in
more features these days than needed.
Synopsis
The story begins with a young couple having an argument and the girl (Kerry) throwing a
ring at the boy (James) and walking off. After picking it back up, James walks down the
path but notices two hooded men now following behind him. Seeing this, James paces
off into an open field and stops to look at the ring. The men however catch up to him and
take him down to the floor. They take a phone and his wallet, however the phone James
gave them is fake. As they are walking off, James’ actual phone goes off, causing the
men to run over and putting James at knifepoint. The attackers take his actual phone
and walk off shouting strong and abusive language at James. After he gets himself
together, James walks back down to the bottom of the park. However by a road, he sees
one of his attackers lying unconscious infront of a stopped car. A group of people are
standing around the attacker, but James continues to walk over and take the man’s bag
and headphones. James ignores the shouting behind him and continues to walk into the
distance.
Cast:
James: Kieran
Falzon
Kerry: Candice
Russel
Attacker 1: Harry
Dobson
Attacker 2: Jake
Took
Bystander 1: Neil
Monk
Bystander 2: Carol
Monk
Credits:
Director: Liam Monk
Producer: Liam Monk
Editor: Liam Monk
Writer: Liam Monk
Sound Design: Liam
Monk
Production Assistant:
Curtis Snelling
Properties: Design
Loren Turner
Hair and makeup
Design: Loren Turner
Costume Design:
Loren Turner
