YIKES Yikes is just fun. Through clever editing and a simple script it sells a high concept premise that could have been otherwise overcomplicated. The Déjà vu devise is employed in a playful manner and to comedic effect. It doesn't require explaining why things happen and why this is happening to the main character, that all of a sudden has the ability to see into the future a few seconds before things actually happen, allowing him to change the outcome. However, the protagonists bad luck does not improve with his new found power but rather, it seems to have worsened; a brilliant choice. While Yikes could have been a thriller it chooses to be humorous and fun.
Which also works against it. The premise could have been used for a more serious and biting story, the protagonists ability used to explore what happens when people can change the outcome of their situation, faith versus choice, cause and consequence. The narrative seems to be unfocused at times, in its very limited running time, Yikes introduces its supernatural concept against the backdrop of an unemployed actor, his agent and the casting directors that reject him, some of these things distract from the central premise which could have been used for something more important rather than for the situations shown. As it is, Yikes doesn't feel wasted, however there is more that could have been done with such an ingenious premise. And for a short film that ends with a punch it lacks a strong resolution, which makes the short feel somewhat incomplete.
Enrrico Wood – Oaxaca Filmfest's Curator
Which also works against it. The premise could have been used for a more serious and biting story, the protagonists ability used to explore what happens when people can change the outcome of their situation, faith versus choice, cause and consequence. The narrative seems to be unfocused at times, in its very limited running time, Yikes introduces its supernatural concept against the backdrop of an unemployed actor, his agent and the casting directors that reject him, some of these things distract from the central premise which could have been used for something more important rather than for the situations shown. As it is, Yikes doesn't feel wasted, however there is more that could have been done with such an ingenious premise. And for a short film that ends with a punch it lacks a strong resolution, which makes the short feel somewhat incomplete.
Enrrico Wood – Oaxaca Filmfest's Curator
