Short Film Review: “Tony Bear”
Dir: Patrick Hopkins
UK • Horror • 9 Mins
After a successful first date, Linda invites Kyle back to her flat but things start to get twisted when he discovers her loyal companion, a threadbare teddy named Tony.
Tony Bear is wonderfully deceptive from the outset. Opening with playful performances and a whimsical choice of music, we’re led into a potential rom-com before unwittingly ending up in horror territory. The slick change is pulled off seamlessly thanks to several factors all expertly executed in unison.
The editing of the film by Caitlin Spiller is impeccable throughout. The clean cuts, controlled pacing and finely considered shot selection are a masterclass in how and when to cut.
Ben Ashenden does a great job as one-night-stand Kyle delivering a believable, subtle performance which is beautifully contrasted by Alice Orr-Ewing’s hilarious, sinister & surreal, yet convincing, performance as teddybear loving Linda. While both performances are excellent, it’s Orr-Ewing who really shines, selling the set-up perfectly with great timing and a multi-layered performance that played with all of our expectations all at once.
Added to all this, Joseph Alexander provides a delightfully manipulative score and John Craine’s cinematography skilfully yet subtly illuminates the motives and characterisations of the players without any heavy-handed foreshadowing or cliched shot selection.
Filmmaker Patrick Hopkins has not only written a very funny, tight and deeply twisted script but as a director, he’s pulled everything and everyone together masterfully, bringing the best people to the project and bringing the best out of them all, building everything up and also delivering spectacularly too.
Tony Bear is a subversive, dark comedy horror film that’s twisted, sharp and incredibly well crafted on all fronts.
9/10
Tony Bear won Best Horror and Best Actress for Alice Orr-Ewing and was nominated for Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score at our 2022 film festival.
Reviewed by Philip Pugh
