User reviews

A young boy in military holding; photographs of destruction and mayhem in front of him. The officer demands answers – meanwhile in the film we flashback to an earlier time as the boy takes his older brother into the corn fields to show him a new friend he has made.

A few years ago now I watched Super 8 a few times and enjoyed it for all its reference points but confidence in itself. Apparently the makers of this film also watched that, along with many other Spielberg-produced films and other sci-fis down the years, because this is a film that really has been built off bits from other films. To start with the area where it is very positive – the effects. The makers have done a great low-budget effort here, making their alien fit into the landscape and interact with real things really well indeed. It moves smoothly and looks great; indeed the sound effects and whole design looks really good (including the rich green/yellow/blue Americana color scheme).

So as a technical base to build your film on, it is a great start; but it is a terrible place to stop – and it does stop there. From these strengths what we get is narrative and character lifted straight from other films without any attempt to stop them being clichés. The film throws in something about loss of parents but it is all just words because almost everything feels like it was done just to get the effect something to happen within – which I guess is pretty much how they approached it. The soldier, the kid, the alien, and so on – all poor; heck, even the alien looks and sounds like a robotic Predator.

The plot unfolds as you expect, not really caring about anything working so much as just making something happen; even the ending makes no sense. It is a shame but this is a perfect example of having great FX skills and trying to force them into a short film to showcase them; in this case it is unfortunate because technically it is impressive in many regards, but the writing and characters lack anything of spark, originality or invention. I mean, it even has lens flare in the daytime – that is how keen it is to copy without thinking about whether it works or not.

There are few shorts films that can, in under ten minutes, elicit both a feeling of novelty and inventiveness at the same time. "Envoy" does just that. It's a simple story that details the relationship between a boy and the thing he found in a cornfield. The VFX and production values are off the charts and the film entire is evocative of early Shyamalan or Spielberg. What makes this film compelling is what it doesn't tell or show you; the mystery in the field, the photographs on the table, the story of the boy's parents. Unfortunately it's also what makes the film a little thin. The story isn't entirely original and the nine minute runtime is far too short for any sort of investment. Still, it's a laudable effort to craft such an engaging film with such limited resources.

The alien setting is nothing new, but the play is condensed well.Short special effects can also catch up with the level of big production.But that's about it.It's just not bad.Looking forward to directing more works.

This shirt has great visuals, great acting, and it just sounds like it could make a great film. But if it were to be a movie, I want it pg-13 or higher. None of that PG bull crap. That would suck. But this short was great

Two boys. A corn field. And a special friend. An interogatory. Not the most surprising end. Short, a beautiful, at each level, film. Interesting idea but not original. A stranger and its ennemies reminding many other films of genre. And two good young actors. Nothing real unknown . But seductive , from cinematography to performances and atmosphere. And, sure, a nice story about a new version of E.T. .