Hazel

Ever had an exciting night out with your friends, where it is all about having fun, sneaking out, making the most of your time together without a care in the world. Enjoying each other’s company, doing silly stuff, and having in-depth conversations about life or the whole world that you’ll either laugh off or ponder the whole night. Well, I had those times when I was young, the best times of my younger years if you ask me. And I am pretty sure many of you can relate to that. But have you ever experienced that fun slowly turning into something else? Like a creepy scene from a horror movie? Weird huh? And it becomes even weirder the moment you realize one of your closest friends is not the person you thought she is. I bet there are those of you who are now starting to question, how can an innocent night of fun and adventure with friends turn into one of their worst nightmares? Well, hanging in tight there my lovely readers, because we are about to crash in with Hazel and her friends in this mystery-filled mind-boggling short film called “Hazel” from the young student filmmaker Sara Eustáquio.

The main factor that I love about this movie is its unpredictability. I am giving this short film bonus points for that. As I have stated in my introduction that watching this film made me relive all the fun adventure I had with my best buddies when I am younger, that was my initial thought of the story. A feel-good film about friends having the time of their lives being teenagers, but I was wrong. Director Sara Eustáquio gave me more. She served me with a compelling mystery that took me beyond the universe and further to the depths of the unknown.

I am going to give you a little sneak peek of this impressive film, but I got to warn you though, it will make you beg for more. If you’re ready, Imagine an awesome night out. You and your friends decided to crash someone else’s swimming pool and began to have a party. It was all fun and crazy, full of teenage spirit, naive and oblivious to the world. Then you have that one friend, fun to be with, crazy enough to fool around but at the same time has an undefined depth in character. A person that can immediately switch the crazy to someone serious and puzzling, a friend quite like Hazel. The moment Hazel started on what seems to be her regular monologuing self, ignited the disturbing night that they will never forget for the rest of their life, that is if they survive the night.

I am very impressed by this film, and to know that it was made by a student filmmaker just had my jaw drop to the floor. I am seriously rooting for this short film to be a full-length movie. It is so good that I just can’t help but anticipate what happened to Hazel and her friends. No wonder that at a very young age of 19 our director Sara Eustáquio is already a multi-award-winning filmmaker. Her sense of style and passion for writing and creating film is outright outstanding. The movie industry even looks brighter with young filmmakers like her. Keep up the remarkably excellent work, hope to see more of your films, Congratulations!