Poison (2023) Short Movie Review

 

Poison | 2023 | 17m
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Short/Thriller | Country: US
Director: Wes Anderson | Writers: Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson
Cast: Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes
IMDB: 6.8
My Rate: 8/10

A small but highly venomous snake is lying on Harry’s stomach and prevents him from moving, or it could endanger him. Timber tries to help by bringing a doctor to handle the case, only to be faced with a shocking truth.

Warning:

Contains coarse language

 

Synopsis:

Timber returns to the lodge and finds Harry still awake but lying motionless on his bed. Harry says that a small venomous snake is sleeping on his stomach. It has been there for hours.

Timber panics and tries to find a way to remove the snake. However, a small mistake could put Harry in danger. Until finally, Timber decides to call Doctor Ganderbai for help.

Ganderbai arrives with his equipment. Timber and Ganderbai discuss finding the safest way to remove the snake, even though Harry has been given anti-venom. However, Harry loses his patience and begins to act rudely. This causes Ganderbai to become slightly emotional as well.

Will they succeed in removing the snake?

 

Review:

Poison is the fourth film in the Roald Dahl anthology after The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The Swan, and The Rat Catcher. The storytelling style remains the same as the other three films, with narration and unique visuals. However, compared to the other films, this story may be slightly harder to digest.

The story opens very well by showing Harry lying on his bed in a tense condition. The audience will see the reason behind this condition through the story and narration presented in the film. Then, the conflict begins to slowly unfold.

Harry, who has been in that position for some time, seems to be losing his patience. Tension begins to rise due to the friction between Harry and the doctor helping him. The atmosphere becomes increasingly uncomfortable, which is also seen through the changing tones and facial expressions of the characters.

The resolution is carried out quite well and shows that the problem is eventually resolved. Even though the snake is not visibly found, and its exact presence is never clearly explained. However, according to various sources, the snake is actually only an analogy representing Harry’s bad attitude—racism.

The cinematography is very unique. Scenes are shot from several angles such as the side, above, and below. This provides a variety of visual perspectives that keeps the film from being boring.
The choice of music and sound effects is also appropriate and helps build the atmosphere. For example, the ticking clock that emphasizes the tense and quiet situation. The actors’ performances are also very good, especially their expressions.

Overall, this film is interesting to watch.

 

Memorable scene:

Harry suddenly raises his voice when the doctor gives him advice. This causes the doctor to slightly lose his patience and also raise his voice. In this scene, we see that the doctor, who has done everything carefully to save Harry, also begins to lose his patience when the person he is helping seems ungrateful. On the other hand, Harry’s actions may not be without reason, as he has been enduring the position for hours and has run out of patience.

In life, we often unintentionally hurt others because of our own mental state. We may not mean it, but the situation causes us to lose control. We can’t control others, but we can control how we react.

 

Ending:

Shocking Ending

 
Recommendation:

Worth to Watch

(Aluna)