The Outsider: A Looper's Story

I don't think I'm alone in saying that I really didn't care for the film Looper, it just seemed to lack a decent flow or spark, but I was curious about this short film, which goes out of its way to point out that it is pretty much a fan-film set in the same universe and is not an attempt to make money (although sadly mostly British short films do not need to point that out). The point of this short is that Anna is a Looper but is already preparing for the day when she has to close her own loop, so instead of just killing people the minute they get back, she tries to learn a little bit more about the future each time, thus changing how she will live the next 30 years and who her future self will be.

Although this short is pretty limited, it is a decent shot at capturing the sense of the film which if you liked Looper will be good news but for me not so much. To its credit, at least the short keeps it simple and focused (unlike the film) so, although there is not too much to it, it does have a good pace and energy. The limits of the camera and the place are apparent – and it is a shame that the location could not have been better since for Chicago 2044 it looks a lot like Britain 2012. This isn't helped by vehicles being in shot with British number plates. Otherwise though the camera moves well enough although it is perhaps a bit too obvious and some nice shots could have done with a better "look" to help them; since it is obvious I don't know enough to describe it properly, I mean that the richness of the film and the "look" of the scene could have benefited. It does also rely on the sexual toughness of Anna too, with lots of "striding with gun" shots inbetween the "squatting with gun" shots.

Haruka Abe does these as well as could be expected although at times she strides like it is a forced act (which of course it is – probably the 20th time she did that same stride) and this does make it feel a bit unnatural. Ultimately it is a fan-film probably made very quickly so kudos to them for recreating the film and, to be honest, doing it a little bit better (albeit with a lot less time to fill or pressure to tell a full story). It has serious limits of course but if you like the film then as a fan-film it at least is referential, quite nicely made and has a solid presence in the camera and in Abe.