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ACTOR
Sam HoareClaire HuskissonEmily Baxter
DIRECTOR
Rob McLellan
SYNOPSICS
Abe (2013) is a English movie. Rob McLellan has directed this movie. Sam Hoare,Claire Huskisson,Emily Baxter are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2013. Abe (2013) is considered one of the best Short,Horror,Sci-Fi,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
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Abe (2013) Reviews
Abe: Concept not story
Take the robot from I, Robot (2004) then make a 7 minute short combining concepts from Bicentennial Man (1999) and a torture porn movie and you have Abe. It's a quaint little short that looks fantastic and clearly had money behind it. The trouble is that there is no story here, merely a concept. This would have been a great method of pitching an idea to a studio, but as a short it falls somewhat short. (Pun intended) It tells the tale of a robot that once served a family, but after losing their love he proceeds to try and "fix" people believing them broken and does it in a less than pleasant manner. The script is great and in some sick twisted way you can totally empathise, for that reason I actually found myself more than a little saddened by the premise but doubly so when I realised there wasn't going to be an actual story here. Sure shorts have limitations imposed on them due to the length but they can still have a beginning/middle/end and this doesn't. Someone pick this concept up and make a feature film out of it! The Good: Looks great Well written Excellent premise The Bad: No real structure Things I Learnt From This Movie: This furthers my stance on robots and my stance is NO This would make a wicked twist for a Bicentennial Man 2
Execution
The scene is quickly set: an attractive young woman wakes up restrained in a secluded area, and sees a collection of operating knives. Then someone approaches, and it turns out not to be a fellow person, but... a humanoid robot. He starts talking, and the terrifying truth becomes clear to us. I won't give away more. While the backstory isn't original, this is without a doubt the most compelling representation in this medium. The 8 and a half minutes running time flies by with no lulls. This goes into themes that would make Asimov proud: are robots equivalent to people? At what point does building and programming them as servants become a civil rights issue? And this adds a rarer, chilling point: what will be the consequences of this, arguably, slavery? The acting is excellent. If any one performance carries this, it is without a doubt that of Abe, the former butler-bot, or botler, if you will. It effortlessly strikes the difficult balance between a sparse, detached tone and a more affected one. Never letting us forget that this is a creation, not something... someone? who was born, and yet with the ever-present quality of emotion, drive, a past that has left an imprint. FX are flawless, our titular mechanical endo-skeleton always feels like you could reach out and touch him. And they show the necessary restraint, with such graphic tools at their disposal - at no point is this flashy. The design is simultaneously creepy and vulnerable, and you could see this/him in a normal home, with a mix of the utilitarian and the "familiar". There is disturbing content(as an underlying sense throughout the entire production)and blood in this. I recommend this to any fan of Asimov. 8/10
Never The Cynical Pitch It Could Have Ended Up As
Did someone mention this feels like a pitch rather than a short film in its own right ? Just checking with both the IMDb and The Short Of The Week website it just so happens to turn out that writer/director Rob McLellan has been given the go ahead by MGM to turn this in to a feature length film . If we're being cynical then it's easy to state that this was indeed the agenda behind ABE the short film . Not to be entirely cynical it should be pointed out that a lot of short films use the exact same technique and when it's obvious like the Edward Snowdon inspired short VERAX boy oh boy it is too painfully obvious for words and if someone was standing at a street corner holding a begging bowl with a sign round their neck saying " Give me some money to make a feature film guv . I haven't eaten for three days " it wouldn't be any more cynical In its favour it does in grammar terms have a present continuous feel . By that I mean the actions Abe has started happened before the story started and are still continuing . Some suspension of disbelief might be needed as to why someone felt the need to build a robot with emotions and the fact a robot walking around kidnapping or at the very least stalking women might lead to police attention , but I guess if recent cases are to go by the police can't investigate any sort of sexual crime unless it's thirty years old . Abe does give away enough exposition to make the audience clearly understand his motives and they are believable to an extent . What ABE holds as a winning hand is the emotionless but effective vocal talents of Sam Hoare . Yeah a flat computer voice wreaking havoc while speaking calmly has been done many times before most famously in 2001 but here it works very well . I somehow doubt if the feature length version of ABE will be a massive success but here's hoping it doesn't pander to Hollywood by having lots of explosions and CGI
Not as creative as it pretends to be
British director Rob McLellan is probably one of the most prolific workers in his branch these days. "Abe" is already the 8th short-film he shot in the last 4 years and probably his most known work to this day. I wonder if we will soon see a feature film from him, possibly starring Abe or having him in a cameo. I'm not too sure I'd go see it, however, as this eight-and-a-half-minute short film didn't particularly impress me. We see a woman waking up gagged and tied to a chair. Moments later, her kidnapper enters the scene. It's Abe, the robot. From this moment on, until nearly towards the end he holds a monologue about inner motivations, love and rejection. I guess the point of this film is to show us how all these experiences could also happen to human beings, but I really wasn't convinced. At one point, when he asks his victim: "Do I have a soul?" and the camera switches to the victim, it was almost unintentionally hilarious like she must have asked herself "WTF is going on here? This can't be real." Anyway, I didn't feel any sympathy for the robot and this is probably one of the keys why I couldn't really enjoy this one that much. The execution was okay, but the story simply wasn't compelling enough. So for now, I'd say give this one a pass.
Such an interesting character.
This is a very beautiful looking short film. I adore the way Abe draws me in with his innocent and welcoming exterior whilst offering such a misunderstood and tortured interior. For A, a short film, and B, a robot, this protagonist really does provide a good depth within such a short space of time. I would genuinely like to see more of him since there clearly is a past leading up to the situation we witness here. The character of Abe does well in offering a thought-provoking premise. It contains an honest and upsetting realization concerning human existence. I consider it difficult for a film to get an audience to side with murderous and unforgiving characters, but with Abe, I see reason, I see a tested tolerance, and most importantly, I see a story.