LeTZ PLaY A gaME: A Funhouse of a Film

Kevin Cate’s LeTZ PLaY A gaME is a horror 101 class fit into a tight 4-minute runtime. Following a teenage girl at a fair as texts from an unknown number begin to terrorise her, the film is surprisingly well designed and edited into a gripping narrative, so that you are both worried for the protagonist and for your need for closure because surely, it cannot still be under four minutes; surely, the film will leave you high and dry? 

The trick of the film is that it sacrifices some pieces of the plot to deepen its imagery. It works precisely because this is a familiar story. Of course Chloe (Ainsley Cate) will panic around the third or fourth text. Of course she will play into the sender’s hands. Of course she will be isolated. But look instead at the detailing of the fairground as the narrative unnerves you by straying from Chloe’s crisis. This is how—by acting like it has the time to develop a sense of place and kickstart further chains of events—the film really plays with your sense of time and creates tension. 

Ainsley Cate has a grounding presence; Dara Britton, who plays the more visible of Chloe’s two friends, Maya shares that quality. Both are completely convincing as buoyant adolescents out in the world. That makes the setting-the-scene portion of the narrative actually enjoyable rather than inconsequential, a fact bolstered by the part-disorienting and part-inviting cinematography. 

With this funhouse style of storytelling, LeTZ PLaY A gaME is refreshing in its own bite-sized way. It tricks, pleases, thrills, and teases its way through four intriguing minutes (3 minutes and 45 seconds, really) and makes the most out of a storyline that everyone loves to watch, over and over. No wonder it put in the final twenty-five seconds. 

Watch LeTZ PLaY A gaME Short Film