Uncertainty, redemption, fear: what is the idea of the short film Curve (2015). Curve (short movie) is a rather unusual project entirely directed by Tim Egan. Despite the short meter, the lack of a plot and any storyline, the short film literally looks in one breath and really keeps you in suspense. What is the meaning of the movie Curve? Let’s try to answer this question and consider in detail the content of this unusual project.
Country : Australia
Genre : horror, thriller
Year of production : 2015
Director : Tim Egan
Cast : Laura Jane Turner
What is the movie about
Let’s start the review of this short film with a small description. The idea of Curve is as follows. A nameless and unknown girl wakes up in an obscure concrete structure. It looks like some kind of dam, but the director does not give the viewer any bindings and location identifiers. The girl is on the Curve of the wall. The place is quite uncomfortable, and with any careless movement, the heroine can slide down, where the viewer sees only frightening blackness.
Laura Jane Turner starred in the short film. Frame from the film.Trying to get comfortable, the girl almost slips down. She tries to roll over, but again almost breaks down, peeling her palms against the concrete wall. The girl draws attention to the sticky blood that oozes from her palms. She dries her hands slightly, wiping them on her clothes, and uses her bloody palms as a support: they stick a little to the wall.
Suddenly, she notices the prints of bloody palms on exactly the same ledge opposite. When it slides off a little, blood stains appear on the wall opposite. Finally, the heroine manages to take a more or less stable position. However, her trials are just beginning. The building is open and it starts to rain. The concrete Curve quickly gets wet, becoming slippery.
To stay on the ledge, the girl rips off the chain from her neck and wraps it around her hand. The screen goes dark for a few seconds, and in the next frame, the viewer sees an already empty Curve. Titles, final. At first glance, the essence of the movie Curve seems pointless and boring, but it is not. The short film Curve has a hidden meaning, and we will try to find it.
Curve Ending explanation
First, let’s find the meaning of the ending of the film Curve. In general, the end of the story is quite understandable: since the girl is not on the ledge, it means that she could not stay on the slippery concrete and fell down. However, it was clear from the very beginning. The heroine clearly could not sit on such an uncomfortable ledge for a long time, and literally from the first frames it was clear that the director had clearly prepared some kind of test for the girl. Given that the sky is often shown during this short film, the rain was quite predictable.
This is the clue to the ending of the film Curve. The heroine was doomed from the start. We were shown a trap from which there is no way out. Therefore, the most logical explanation for the ending is inevitability. In this interpretation, the film really does not need a plot line and any preamble. It does not matter how and why the heroine ended up in this situation. The main thing is that sooner or later she will die, and she has no chance to get out.
At the same time, the girl clings to the wall with bloody palms to the last, trying to delay the inevitable at least for a while. This is the hope that lives in every person, but often shattered by circumstances beyond our control. This moment is very subtly beaten by the director.
The film keeps in suspense precisely with hope, because every viewer thinks that the heroine will be able to escape. The ending shows the inevitability built into the script from the start. After all, it is immediately clear that without any intervention from the outside, the heroine cannot be saved, but each of us subconsciously expects a successful outcome. As a result, a paradox is created: an expected and unexpected ending at the same time.
Frame from the film.The meaning of the film Curve
Unlike the predictable-unpredictable ending, the hidden meaning of the film Curve is much deeper than it seems at first glance. To understand this, it is enough to turn to the location itself, where events are unfolding. Concrete walls, open skies and darkness below. If we consider the situation objectively, then the scenario does not provide for a single factor of fear.
Yes, some extraneous sounds are periodically heard, but their nature is unclear. At the same time, the heroine is clearly afraid, but does not try to call for help. Suddenly she is not alone here, and someone will be able to pull her out of this ledge. The girl is only trying to crawl higher on her own. The question arises: why? This does not give her any bonuses in terms of survival or convenience, but at the same time the heroine stubbornly, literally a millimeter crawls up.
The meaning of these seemingly useless gestures is actually very simple. The girl is frightened by the unknown, which is hidden in the impenetrable darkness below. She does not know what is there, but for some reason she is sure that nothing good awaits her. At the same time, the path to salvation may well be hidden behind the darkness, because neither we nor the heroine know the height of this structure. It is possible that, having slipped off the ledge, she, having flown a couple of meters, will flop into the water or find a way out. However, there is only one attempt to test this, and lives are at stake.
Therefore, the meaning of the film is very cleverly built around the fear of the unknown. Here you can also note the wall opposite, on which blood stains mysteriously appear. It is clear that they are somehow connected with the heroine. She rests on her torn palms, a bloody imprint appears in front of her. Slightly slips, and we can already see the emerging smear.
This certainly also has a certain meaning. Perhaps, according to the director’s idea, this is a kind of mirror of the future, which shows the futility of attempts to save and pushes to reconcile and make the only possible choice in this situation – to trust fate and slide down. Remarkably, both ledges are clean in the final frames, and no traces of blood are visible on them.
At the same time, at the very beginning of the film, we are shown the sea, and blood is visible on the girl’s finger. It is likely that there are some references to the notorious Sisyphus, who tried to roll a stone up the mountain. The waves well symbolize the ledge on which the girl woke up, and the injured finger may indicate that she was already here. There are quite a lot of similar ledges in the incomprehensible structure: they can be seen in the shots of the opposite wall, and it is likely that the heroine will have to go through them all. It’s like atonement for some sin or something like that.
Frame from the film.Similar films
- The Creators (Canada, 2014). An unusual and very short story of a boy who encountered an otherworldly entity.
- “Special Day” (France, 2018). Emily is expecting an unusual birthday present. This is a special gift that will appear exactly at 9:30, but at that moment something strange begins to happen.
- “Don’t Move” (UK, 2013). A company of six friends manages to summon a blind and deaf demon. The monster has a rule: only one leaves, the rest will die. Those who move die instantly.
- “Jester” (USA, 2016). A lonely passer-by is faced with the very embodiment of Halloween, and now his life depends on the will of chance.
- “See to die” (2019). Peeping through other people’s windows, you can see what can come to you and take your life.
